The Slate Truck is an electric two-seater with 150 miles of range and no stereo. | Image: Slate Auto
Ask just about anybody, and they’ll tell you that new cars are too expensive. In the wake of tariffs shaking the auto industry and with the Trump administration pledging to kill the federal EV incentive, that situation isn’t looking to get better soon, especially for anyone wanting something battery-powered. Changing that overly spendy status quo is going to take something radical, and it’s hard to get more radical than what Slate Auto has planned.
Meet the Slate Truck, a sub-$20,000 (after federal incentives) electric vehicle that enters production next year. It only seats two yet has a bed big enough to hold a sheet of plywood. It only does 150 miles on a charge, only comes in gray, and the only way to listen to music while driving is if you bring along your phone and a Bluetooth speaker. It is the bare minimum of what a modern car can be, and yet it’s taken three years of development to get to this point.
But this is more than bargain-basement motoring. Slate is presenting its truck as minimalist design with DIY purpose, an attempt to not just go cheap but to create a new category of vehicle with a huge focus on personalization. That design also enables a low-cost approach to …
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Wow it uses crank powered windows in this day and age. The only real concern (besides the missing stereo) is if it spies on its owners like pretty much all other car manufacturers.
If there is spy/telemetry nonsense, I cannot see why it cannot be wrenched out of the car.
Most people don’t remove their telemetry devices from their cars because they would lose functionality. This car has no functionality to lose.
If the telemetry is integrated with the car’s main controller, I’m optimistic someone can crack it.
I wonder if I can run Doom.
Manual windows with cranks? Do you also have to hold the door handle up when you close it so it stays locked?
Do you normally have to ?
You could lock cars that way before electric door locks became standard. You just push down the door pin while you hold the handle open and close the door. When you let go of it, it will stay locked. Kind of a lazy alternative to using the key.
Holy shit you’re right. It was so long so I forgot and almost thought you were crazy.
Haha, I only remember this because I drive a car from the 80s.
My first car was like an ~89 Sentra and my 2nd a ~92 cavalier and they both did it. It had just been so damn long ago.