Is the Slate electric pickup truck a Tesla killer? What the Jeff Bezos-backed truck could mean for the EV race

3 months ago 42

Charles Singh , USA TODAY NETWORK

Wed, Apr 30, 2025, 9:57 AM 4 min read

Electric vehicles are present to stay. Whether you emotion 'em oregon hatred 'em it seems similar each fewer months a large automaker oregon emerging startup is teasing a caller electrical vehicle. EVs person go wildly fashionable internationally successful regions similar Asia and Europe. America whitethorn not instrumentality to EV adoption arsenic rapidly arsenic different regions, but contention is surely heating up.

Tesla dominates the EV marketplace stock successful North America (and a fewer different regions), but competitors from automakers similar Hyundai, Rivian, BYD, Nio, and much are making large waves successful the space. Jeff Bezos-backed Slate Auto, a newer electrical conveyance manufacturer, could beryllium processing Tesla's fiercest rival yet, the Slate electrical pickup truck.

The Slate Auto pickup motortruck is an affordable American-made electrical pickup motortruck acceptable to deed the streets successful precocious 2026. It's impactful due to the fact that it could commencement adjacent $20,000 acknowledgment to an affordable starting terms ($27,500) and the national electrical conveyance taxation inducement of $7,500.

Slate volition absorption heavy connected customizability, providing a precise barebones basal exemplary motortruck arsenic a starting constituent for consumers. The champion features could tack connected thousands of dollars to the pickup's terms tag, but it inactive has a beardown accidental of debuting arsenic America's astir affordable electrical pickup motortruck ever made.

Slate Auto is simply a Michigan-based institution founded successful 2022. It has notably received the backing of Jeff Bezos, the billionaire laminitis of Amazon. Slate isn't Bezos' archetypal foray into the satellite of electrical conveyance investing. In 2021, CNN reported credited Rivian's "overnight success" to Bezos and Amazon's $700 cardinal investment. The Amazon laminitis drove Rivian vehicles alongside astronauts to Blue Origin motorboat sites arsenic well, earning the marque large publicity. The endorsement of Amazon's laminitis isn't to beryllium taken lightly, truthful determination are plentifulness of eyeballs connected this truck's pending release.

In a capitalist nine contention is mostly bully for the marketplace. Increased contention yet means much appealing products and services for consumers. Thankfully, the American electrical conveyance marketplace has heated up implicit the past fewer years. As a result, determination are plentifulness of options for drivers to take from, but it's wide the aureate property of EVs is inactive connected the horizon.


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