“We built it, you do it.”
This is the Slate motto, a new American electric vehicle company that has just revealed its launch model and is supported by former Amazon (AMZN) executives, including, according to reports, Jeff Bezos Family Office
Slate said his EV Pickup, a bare-bone truck smaller than the Maverick Ford (F), will cost somewhere in the middle of $ 20,000 and it will come in any color that you want to be gray from Slate, ie. The option of option offers a choice of two sizes for the rear-wheel drive truck: 52.7-kilometer battery, pointing at 150 miles and 84.3-kWh with 240 miles range.
However, the company in Michigan will offer a large number of personalized parts, vinyl skins and even a roof to make it an SUV if the customer wants. Here comes the “Do it” part because customers will install these elements themselves.
Buyers can also choose to do any of these things and have a cheap, utilitarian pickup.
“The automotive industry has abandoned the working class in America. And what I think is so exciting and different about Slate is that we borrow this position that we will build a working -class vehicles in America, for Americans,” Jeremy Snyder, Slate CEO, told Yahoo Finance. “It’s just something that is lost.”
Slate’s founders, former Amazon Consumer CEO Jeff Wilk, and MIT classmate Miles Arnone, were intended to make this vehicle so that US workers of all stripes could have cheap, reliable and efficient transport.
As reported earlier than TechCrunch, there are several former Amazon leaders participating in Slate and one big investor: Amazon chairman Jeff Bezos.
Bezos is reported to have a passive share through his family office and does not directly participate in everyday business. Snyder said Slafer would not comment on Bezos’ involvement.
Nevertheless, unlike other Amazon investments, Rivian (RIVN), Snyder said Slate would be a positive cash flow shortly after production, which would begin at the end of 2026.
Hitting this metric is a difficult request in the current automotive environment, where the industry observes the growth of EV sales after mass profits earlier in the decade. The perspective of the EV federal tax credit is also a threat, in addition to the negative effects of President Trump’s tariffs on critical supply chains.
Synder said the company was able to achieve its profitability goals, since all its parts were made in America (except tires) and the parts of vehicles were not stamped. The outer parts are constituent pieces that are easier to prepare and avoid Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum.