Over the past few weeks, there’s been some hype around Jeff Bezos-backed Slate Auto and its plan to build a $25,000 electric pickup truck in America. While few details have been released around this vehicle so far, a Reddit user spotted a strange small pickup truck on American soil, and it doesn’t quite look like anything we’ve seen so far.
Posted to the r/whatisthiscar subreddit by user discostranger09, this compact-looking pickup truck on a flat bed drew other users’ attention. The original poster added a bit of context to the photo in the comment section, responding to a question about where this vehicle was spotted with:
South of Los Angeles. To add some more context, there were 2 men filming/taking pictures as well. Suggesting that whatever it was, it was “special.” I’m also 100 percent positive that it’s an EV. Never heard an ignition or exhaust note when they pulled it off the flat bed.
You know what startup has a presence in Los Angeles? Slate Auto. Could this be the cheap, reportedly $25,000 electric pickup truck that Jeff Bezos is backing? It’s entirely possible, but let’s take a look at the evidence.
Despite being a completely undisguised vehicle, this pickup doesn’t quite seem to have an immediately identifiable styling language we can link with any automaker in North America. Instead, it’s an amalgamation of various elements. The arches are very Land Rover Defender, the front bumper has shades of Ford, the deep character line down the flank almost feels retro, and the simple headlights seem unusually utilitarian.
At the same time, the form factor seems about right for an entry-level model. It’s not some huge machine, it has a fairly small bed and a single cab, and hardware like the marker lights, door mirror, and what appear to be bolt-on fenders with external hardware appears to fit a low price point. They don’t necessarily look cheap, but they look like they’re designed to be cleverly inexpensive.
Keep in mind, Slate has stated that it wants to launch an electric two-seat truck next year, and a proof of concept is said to exist. With the form factor and location lining up, there’s definitely some plausibility here.
Whether this thing’s a Slate or something else, if it comes to market at a reasonable price and has decent specs, people are going to buy it. This is exactly the form factor fans of old Ford Rangers and Chevrolet S-10s have been craving, so let’s sit on this spy shot and see where it goes.
Update: TechCrunch reports that this is indeed exactly what we think it is. As the outlet wrote:
The truck pictured is, in fact, the one Slate Auto has been working on, according to a person with direct knowledge of Slate Auto’s vehicle design who spoke on the condition of anonymity. This person, whose identity is known to TechCrunch, said the truck is likely one of the concept vehicles the startup has created to show to potential investors — like the controlling owner of the LA Dodgers — at its design studio in Long Beach, California.
Well, I’ll be. If this is just our first glimpse at the project, the future of Slate Autos looks pretty exciting.
Top graphic credit: Reddit/discostranger09
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Well that is muuuuuch better looking than the previous concept picture(s) floating around for Slate Auto. I’m pretty excited about the possibility of 3-4 compact to mid-size EV pickup offerings in the not so distant future!
Glad to see an actual vehicle from them. Also double glad it isn’t overdesigned to hell and has a sensible belt line 🙂
Apparently less than two weeks until we find out more Slate FAQ
Tough to tell, but we may have a rivian situation there where the whole side of the truck is one panel. At least the maverick has a split from the bed side before it gets past the door.
https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/forum/attachments/20230909_125705-jpg.127576/
Antoher fun repair if you get tapped in the rear quarter a-la the 40k rivian dent story
Although I think there’s a panel gap right under the roof on this truck
The Slate design looks like it ends at the door seam. The B-pillar panel looks separate as well.
Would buy.
If this truck has:
A true 25k price tag
200ish miles of range (enough for around town for a few days, or work and back and recharge overnight)
Ability to comfortably seat my 6’2″ large angry mammal body
A weatherproof frunk able to hold groceries
I would seriously consider it. If it had mid 90s ranger extended cab space, I would buy it.
Awesome. Simply awesome.
Heck, if they made a gas variant, it would probably sell well. Even the Ford Maverick isn’t exactly a small truck. I’m sure there’s probably an opportunity for a small, two door, no frills truck.
It’s also gone up in price a grand for each year it’s been out approximately.
I think this will work fine for the single cab / extended cab buyers. I had both a single cab ranger and an extended cab ranger, the extended cab was better, but I used it like a trunk. If there is a frunk in this truck, it will be perfect for a lot of people. I am not a buyer for the first year, but if it sells well and looks like it is going to stay around, I would be in for one.
That looks like it could be very useful if you need trucks for something like a grounds department or city delivery business. The single cab will turn off a lot of people looking for a daily, but as a low-cost fleet vehicle I could see it selling quite well.
I disagree. Now that the kids are out of the house, this is exactly what I want in a pickup. I need something that’s functional and that fits in a garage made for cars.
Yep – this screams second, maybe third car. Lots of single-person trips in my household, drive to work, grab something at the store, etc. Not a car for a one-car house, but with the right price it would compete with people thinking about a golf cart, gator, etc.
I see it and see it as a first car for an ebike first commuter in southern california or other warm climates.
Yup, this is the “go get the mulch/big costco run” car, or, in my case, the “man i dont really think i can fit this deer I just harvested in the back of my outback”
Mulch. I have a Ranger (’21), and I’m not picking up mulch in that thing. Even if it were an F-Series; nope. Pickup trucks are crappy mulch haulers. There just isn’t that much cubic yardage in even a longbed. And there’s a bunch of garden centers around here that will deliver with a dump truck.
I can see your argument there, but I can fit 32 2 cubic foot bags in the bed of my 2011 Ranger. Did 45 bags a month ago (two trips, soaked from rain, so they weighed 50 pounds each)
I find that the plastic bags create a nice amount of friction between them to help hold them in place. Once at the house it’s easier to throw them around to the places you want to mulch instead of going back and forth from a big pile with a wheelbarrow. (Especially with a knee-high fence in the way.)
I can fit 20 in the aforementioned outback, I just hate having to make the trip three times
That’s a good haul and a solid challenge to put in and out, especially when the bags have been soaked in rain and sprinkler water.
Hat tip.
My dad would love one of these. He’s been talking about getting a kei truck on and off for the last 25 or 30 years and it would eliminate my mom’s concerns about them.
I have an honest question. Why does it have to fit in the garage? Is it just something you’re used to (totally legit) or other reasons?
I ask because I’ve had five different pickup trucks and they’ve all stayed outside.
As do most people, I live in a city, and my garage is off an alley. So the only other option is street parking. If you don’t care about the car, that might be alright, but where I live, it also means that for about half the year, you might need to move it for snow plowing. Street parking also often comes with time limits, meaning you can’t leave it in one spot for more than a day or a week without getting towed. This means you can never leave home without dealing with your car while you’re gone. Add in the fact that a lot of people have HOAs that restrict where cars are parked. Of course there is the issue with EV charging as well.
Any one of those issues, which likely covers a major of consumers, means something to big to fit in the garage is a no-go.
Thank you for further explaining your reasons. I respect those that live in the city. I’ve done it and it is not for me.
While I do charge my Leaf outside it still feels weird to plug it in in the elements, I even got an out of production weather cover for the charging port when charging, though it doesn’t technically need it for safety reasons, but the charging port cubby can fill with ice which obviously inhibits charging.
Kinda like plugging in Christmas lights
I’d argue worse. Personally I think BEVs should come from the factory with charging port covers that can be used to keep snow and ice buildup from occurring, even if the shock risk is nonexistent, it can still prevent you from charging.
This is exactly what I want from a truck and I’m not alone. One of the local gas station managers dailies an Acty because it’s perfect for him, and I know of at least one other that ferries packages to the post office. But I’m also in Texas and we love our kei vehicles here, so something small and practical like this should sell pretty well too, assuming it actually makes it to market. It was pretty much impossible to find a Maverick for sale in Houston until the last six or eight months because they all sold immediately.
Depending on how easy it would be to mod, I could also see it as a base for street trucks.
I hope there’s either a really stiff frame underneath or some sort of strengthening inside the back of the cab otherwise that bed’s going to rip like a bag of chips.
Why?
David Tracy explained it in his oversized deep dive into the design of the Honda Ridgeline.
Basically the load in the bed causes flexing and twisting that fatigues the sheet metal connecting the cab and bed.
How much weight do you think people are going to be loading into these?
Probably far more than it is designed for.
Never underestimate the “If it fits, it sips” mindset.
Someone will dump a yard of sand in it not knowing it weighs 2,500 pounds.
Most skateboard platforms are fairly stiff because you shouldn’t flex the battery packs so your floor/pack end up being an extremely rigid structure. I’d assume this company understands a well known design requirement.
Hopefully
You mean the one where he described the need for the sail panels on the first gen? If so, you might want to take a look at the 2nd gen. Also other unibody pickups like the Maverick and Santa Cruz (although that last one does have vestigial sails). I think that problem may have been solved.
I think he addressed this in his article… You might check the technical drawings for the 2nd gen. They spend more cost/weight to reinforce the bed lower on the truck to get that look and appease those who thought the sail panels were no good on the 1st gen.
This is what I hope they did to this truck, but I want confirmation.
The one where he points out a reinforcement loop in the back of the cab to replace the sail panels. But you get the concept. Thumbs up.
If you build it with steel of the proper thickness and keep the rust from reducing that thickness steel has an INFINITE fatigue life.
That being said I prefer aluminum for beds. Working beds are going to get scratched, dented, paint worn off, etc. With steel that’s terminal, with aluminum it forms an oxide that inhibits the corrosion of the aluminum below it, and when your bed reaches the end of its life you can easily scrap it for decent cash and put that towards a new bed. It’s one reason I’m not a fan of unibody pickups for work vehicles, once the bed wears out 99% of the time you either have to buy a new pickup or Frankenstein weld a new bed in from a donor vehicle.
True about the thickness, but it competes against desired weight.
Not if it’s structural, like it is on most Unibody pickups.
I hope you’re right.
As do I, though I still prefer BOF with aluminum beds
I guess it could be or could be something Chinese maybe they built the prototype in China and will bring all the tooling to the US to make it. It kind of looks similar to something Bollinger had drawn up years ago. Who knows maybe there are a whole bunch of mini Bev truck startups in stealth.
Lot of haters in the comments on the utilitarian value of this truck, but remember that in the early 2000’s the Ford Ranger was Ford’s bestselling “car” because it was the cheapest thing on the lot (cheaper than the Focus!). If this ends up being the cheapest EV on the market it will 1,000% sell.
And I’m buying! (but also, fuck Bezos)
Anecdotally as someone who worked at a Ford dealer from 1998-2001, we sold WAY more extended cab trucks than standard cabs. I just don’t see many retail buyers accepting a standard cab today, at which point this would be more for fleet buyers, and those buyers would likely want a longer bed.
Probably right, but because they have been gone for so long people may find them interesting. They were all yelling for the 4 door ranger from Europe because they couldn’t have it then they got it and wanted a 2 door they got that for a bit but didn’t buy it. Lots of angry old timers just want a truck but will they want just a truck that’s a BEV hard to say.
That’s a good argument.
If there is adequate leg room for people 6’+ tall, then the frunk it likely has would mitigate the need for the extended cab. Those Ranger and S-10 extended cabs were almost exclusively used as a dry place to put stuff, not for passengers.
I prefer a regular-cab truck. I have no need for an extended-cab or a crew-cab truck. I also prefer the look of a regular-cab truck over an extended-cab or crew-cab truck. I currently drive a mid-size regular-cab, 2wd, 4-cyl, 5-speed truck. My previous truck was a compact regular-cab, 2wd, 4-cyl, 5-speed truck. Before that I had a full-size regular-cab, 2wd, I-6, 3-speed (on the column!) truck.
I’m running a 50 amp (240V) service to my garage this year. If this comes out looking like the top photo and is reasonably priced, sign me up!
Yep. Late 90s, fresh out of college, and wife’s beater Ford Tempo suffered a failure that was going to be expensive to fix. A new Ranger with extended cab and the Splash-style bed was cheap and useful. The old Pinto engine was laughably underpowered, but it worked.
“This is exactly the form factor fans of old Ford Rangers and Chevrolet S-10s have been craving”
Yeah… the form factor many said they craved, but few actually bought. I look at this and I see ‘money-losing failure’ written all over this.
And for only $25K, I’m gonna guess it will have an undersized battery pack giving it compliance-car driving range… which will help guarantee it becoming a flop.
For this to appeal to the masses, at the very least it needs to be a 4 door along the same lines as the Ford Maverick.
And if it’s an EV, then it will need a battery pack that gives at least 200 miles of range in cold weather and/or with the A/C on.
For $25K and given the tariff situation, I do not see how that’s possible without them making a gross loss on every unit.
I am sad that this is a pretty good take. Why you gotta dash my dreams?
You probably don’t want to hear my take on life and death (but mostly death).
LOL
Nah, I’m cool with that take because I secretly long for the nothingness that sweet emptiness will bring. I care about small trucks, though, so that hurts more.
Chevy sold like 200k S10s a year in the late 90s and the Ranger was over 300k a year around then. Of course those were probably extended cabs instead of the short cab but they sold a fuck ton of them.
Yeah but then 4 door pickup trucks became widely available and then most flocked to those.
The Explorer Sport Trac helped kill the original North American-developed Ranger.
Sales figures about buyers in the 90s have nothing to do with buyers of today.
Ford is selling every Maverick it can make; I just bought one. There’s a market for small trucks. It’s the manufacturers that keep making shit bigger so that they can boost profit margins.
If it’s as advertised, I predict the base model will start at an “under 25K” of $24,999.99 and virtually none will be available at that price. Beyond that, it will quickly build to $38k once it’s equipped like most buyers actually want, or at least like the dealers think people want.
BTW, the initial reporting wasn’t “under $25K“, it was “around $25K“. Which in marketing-speak is a polite way of saying “more than $25K“.
Sort of the same way the Maverick was a “$20K truck” on its release, which of course it never was. It was about $21,700.ish, and of course, all Ford dealers within a couple hundred miles of a major urban center tacked $5-10K MORE onto the sticker. Or Volvo’s theoretical “$35K EV” the EX30, which MSRPs for $10K more, before tax, title, reg, dealer markups, etc…
I can’t say for certain based upon the pic, but it appears that the pickup is pretty dang large for having an integral bed. Door handles look odd, which leads me to believe they are electric. Also while it is technically preliminary, the charging port being placed at the right rear corner seems like the absolute worst place.
Personally I think the best location for a charging port is in the front centrally mounted like on my Leaf, it’s LHD-RHD neutral naturally.
They’d better make that a very long single-cab, with enough legroom for grown-ass adults, otherwise this thing is gonna flop.
Legroom will be the key. A frunk can mitigate the need for an extended cab to store things in the dry, but single cab minitrucks were torture chambers for anybody that was tall/leggy.
I dunno. I’m 6’2″ and had a Mazda B2200, the only new vehicle I’ve ever bought Single cab was fine for me.
You must be more flexible/skinnier than me.
The only single cab mini truck I ever found comfortable, was the first gen Colorado/Canyon. I actually had to pull the seat up a click to put the clutch in all the way.
Temu version of the new Scouts? Hah
It has more Scout-like dimensions than the new ones do. I’d take it.
One of the big complaints with regular cab pickups is the lack of interior storage. Maybe a frunk would address that (assuming this has one)?
Probably an unpopular opinion here, but I’m doubtful there’s a big market for small single-cab pickups these days. Then again, someone is
bribinglobbying the AAMVA to keep kei trucks out of the US, so I guess they think there’s a market.Jeep Commanche
yup.
Man am I glad I wasn’t the only one thinking that! It’s like a spitting image of one!
I’m seeing more Jeep J10/SJ Gladiator.
I totally dig it!
But would you buy it?
I might.
If execution is good, and circumstances in my life allow, yes. I realize those are both BIG ifs, but that’s why I haven’t bought any new car in 10-1/2 years.
I would also love to buy a Maverick, but alas I’m buying nothing right now.
“If execution is good,”
They’re getting ‘help’ from former Harley Davidson and Stellantis execs.
Soooo… I doubt it.
Fair.
But also, I’m only responding to the idea and the aesthetic, which I do like, so get off my ass 😛
Why so much hood for an electric vehicle? Put that length to the bed where it’s needed.
Frunk would be a good place to store the tools that currently ride in my Ranger’s extra cab, but I agree the bed has to get to 6′.
A small truck with a full size trunk! This is the future I want to live in!
raises hand
Can I have a small truck with a full size bed instead?
I’m with you there. I’d trade closed storage for better forward visibility and shorter OAL any day.
Yeah, I would go for a cabover as long as my thighs don’t end up part of the crumple zone.
Sign. Me. Up.
I’m not sure that fans of Rangers and S-10s of yore are clamoring for a standard cab short bed unibody pickup. I don’t see much fleet demand for this combination either.
It’d be perfect for colleges or businesses with large campuses to maintain. If fleets need more towing/hauling power they’re spoiled for choice at the moment.
I like it. If I like it, most others won’t.
Me too! 🙂
I don’t think the standard cab or unibody are problems, but I agree the short bed might be a deal breaker.
Trucks like the Maverick are popular because they combine the utility of a passenger car with a small but useful truck bed. I don’t see a Maverick-sized bed working on a 2 or 3 seat pickup. If it ends up with a 6+ foot bed I could see it being relatively popular, though.
If that bed is 6′ (doesn’t look quite like it) and the rear window opens to stuff a few pieces of lumber in through the cab, and it actually hits the $25k price point or close to it, I’d have to seriously consider retiring my Ranger…
Agreed, but that bed sure looks shorter than 6′ to me.
It is hard to tell for sure and I think you are right about the minimum bed size for the S10s. But I think given the current landscape with 4′-5′ bed lengths and $30k minimum prices a single cab with 5′ bed and $25k price could be interesting.
Which circles back to my point that this is not what S-10 and Ranger fans are asking for 🙂
It would be, by far, the closest thing available.
Weren’t standard cabs and short-ish beds the vast majority of original S-10s and Rangers? I don’t think anyone cares about being a unibody or not if the capabilities are proportional to the cost.
That bed is not S-10 sized though.
It looks bigger than the Maverick or nearly as big or bigger than current mid-size quad cabs. I think if it is $25k and people bitch about an extra 10″ in the bed they are missing the point.
I think if they go to the trouble of creating a new small truck and flub the bed size they are missing the point.
There isn’t a magic bed size that would define “flub.”
Sure there is: less than the bed size every small truck had back when small trucks were used as trucks. That’s what people are pining for when they pine for the small trucks of the past. Nobody’s saying “I wish I could have a compromised bed like the Maverick but only seating for 2”.
If something like 10-12″ of bed is a deal-breaker, you are going to go through life a very sad person.
If 12″ less than a 90’s Ranger is no big deal, how is 6″ more than a Maverick a big deal? Why would someone give up 3 seats for 6″ of bed?
Price and priorities that value bed over passengers. Until we have a better understanding of the full package and real sizes there isn’t any reason to waste energy being disappointed.
Folks who use their truck more to carry stuff (vs people) might be among those who’d prefer a single cab and longer bed. Plenty of minitrucks used to come this way from both domestic and foreign manufacturers.
Yes that’s the point I started from.
When I go to the nursery for 1/2 yard of topsoil for the garden, that’s one scoop from a 6′ blade. When I need to carry 8′ material, 6′ plus a little bit sticking into the cab or off the back is no big deal. There are enough other use cases where 6′ is either ideal or at least tolerable and 4-5′ isn’t that would stop me, a professional truck user, from buying this. And if you don’t really need a truck anyway, just buy a Maverick or Taco or nu-Ranger with a near-pointless bed and 4 doors and enjoy.
I’ve got an extended cab Tacom with a 6′ bed. I have never had a need to carry more than one passager. But the truck isn’t my only car either. I just don’t think that once you get below 8′ long there is really any magic number that crosses a universal threshold. Lots of people want an open bed because they want a place to haul dirty stuff or so they can fit in something bulky and strap it down when it wouldn’t fit into the back of a CUV. There are also lots of people that like small cars because they live in urban areas where parking is tight and/or garapges are small. Generally, any of the gatekeeping around what is or isn’t a “truck” or fixed size requiremets are a bit silly.
Here here! 😀
The shortest bed offered on the original S-10 and Ranger was about 6′. I could be wrong but this looks much shorter to me.
From 2012 to 2022 the experts stated “there is no market for compact pickup in United States”. Even Ford was very obstinate F150 was the hammer for every nail. Right up until Maverick. Ford even abandoned midsize trucks when they had brand new Ranger designed and engineered.
Yes but part of the reason the Maverick is doing so well is that it’s a crew cab, so it can be used as a family vehicle. I guarantee Maverick sales would not be half as good if it was only offered as a standard cab.
Correct and it gets pretty impressive fuel econ although in today’s 2.XX gas prices that’s less of a factor.
Dunno where you live but 2.xx is a pipe dream here in SoCal.
Technically they weren’t wrong, their scope was just extremely limited, and their definition of compact pickup was probably that of the last ones sold in the US.
The Maverick is only 10 inches shorter than an expedition, all with a 4.5ft bed. If an automaker tried to make a compact ICE powered pickup the size of the previous compact pickups it would have to get in the high 40s MPG at the minimum due to the footprint rule, not really feasible on pure ICE this day in age.
Toyota had their hybrid system locked down for years, and then when they opened it up for other automakers to use Ford did so, and not long after it ended up in the Maverick.
BEVs however get such high MPGe that the footprint rule is basically irrelevant, which is why I believe the future of compact automobiles is with BEV drivetrains.
Inexpensive and capable will sell. Were Toyota to offer Hilux Champ it would be extremely successful.
Well, not with Chicken Tax and Trump Tax.
Eh, I think that it would sell well to auto parts stores and such provided the company behind it can pull it off. Beggars can’t be choosers and those S-10s and 3rd Gen Rangers in the fleets are really tired with no single cab replacement. When they’re literally only used to run parts and sit in a parking lot when not running parts a single cab is all you need, and a BEV drivetrain will help with maintenance, reliability, durability, and running costs.
Personally if I were going with a short bed I’d prefer something pallet sized with dropsides, and with a cab no larger than the bed. Basically a modern, larger but more capable Daihatsu Midget.
Is it a Bronco sport truck? That’s the vibe I’m getting from the design.
Yeah I thought it was just a truck conversion of the normal bronco
You’re probably on to something here. Don’t know if it’s a factory effort or is it’s something like one of those “coupe to pickup” conversion kits, but the front third does look a lot like a Bronco Sport.
Well color me surprised. The update says it is the new Slate truck.
I’m now expecting a Mahindra/Jeep-type lawsuit here.
It does feel very “Ford”.