Slate Truck Price Revealed: $24,950, Made in America
A little over a year ago, I handed a company fifty dollars for a truck I had never seen in person. There was no test drive and no real photos to study, just a hunch and a refundable deposit. My wife chuckled and shoot her head (again), and I can’t say I blamed her. This morning I finally learned what that truck will cost, and I am happy to report that I am still in line.
The company is Slate Auto, and today they revealed the price of their electric pickup. It starts at $24,950 before taxes and fees, which makes it the most affordable new truck you can buy in America right now, electric or gas. They also raised the estimated range to around 205 miles, which is more than I expected when I first signed up, and a welcome surprise.
The detail I keep coming back to is where the truck is built. It comes out of a plant in Warsaw, Indiana, assembled by American workers, with Slate investing close to $400 million in the facility and promising more than 2,000 jobs. We spend a lot of time in this country talking about wanting things made here again, so it means something to see a company actually doing it. That alone earns my attention.
The truck itself is refreshingly simple, and that is the whole point. It has hand-crank windows, no large touchscreen, and a single shade of gray that you can cover with a wrap later if you want some color. There is no stereo unless you pay for one. What it does include is the equipment that genuinely matters, such as a backup camera, air conditioning, and six airbags, and it leaves the rest of the choices to you. Slate calls it a blank slate, and they mean it quite literally, inviting you to build the truck out as your needs and your budget allow. For such a stripped-down vehicle, it also carries a reassuring promise behind it, a ten-year, 110,000-mile warranty on the battery and powertrain.
One feature caught me off guard, and I have come to appreciate it more the longer I think about it. The truck has no built-in system tracking where you drive, which means it does not report your movements back to the company or sell your data to anyone. In 2026, a little privacy like that feels almost like a luxury.
I want one of these trucks for two reasons. The first is practical. As the person who runs the Benson Community Garden (with my wife), I am constantly hauling mulch, compost, tools, and the occasional load of who-knows-what in a car that was never designed for the job. The Slate can carry more than 1,500 pounds and tow up to 2,000, which would solve that problem and then some.
The second reason is a little bigger than my own convenience. I decided some time ago that I would not buy another gas vehicle, and I would rather put my money toward where I believe transportation is heading. I also want to support a company willing to prove that affordable, American, and electric can all share the same driveway.
I want to be honest with you, though, because that matters more to me than cheerleading. The $24,950 figure will climb once you add destination and other fees, landing closer to $27,000 by the time the truck is sitting in your driveway. It is a two-seater, so it will not suit every family. The electric vehicle market has cooled considerably this year. And I still have not had the chance to sit in one. If a Slate ever turns up near me for a test drive, I suspect I will come home with my mind made up, but I would like to experience it first before I say so for certain.
SILLY SIDENOTE
I just hope the Slate’s interior fabric and carpet are pet-friendly because the ONLY thing I really dislike about my current 2015 Nissan Leaf is the interior that is a magnet for my dogs’ hair – and I love to take them on rides!
Even with all of that said, a year ago I placed a fifty-dollar bet on little more than a hunch, and today that hunch looks a good deal smarter than it did. I am genuinely curious to see where this company goes from here.
If you have been waiting on an affordable electric vehicle yourself, I would love to hear about it. And if you happen to spot one of these little gray trucks out in the wild before I do, you have to promise to tell me.