Extremely Bare-Bones $20,000 Electric Pickup Truck Doesn't Even Have a Radio

A Michigan-based startup called Slate Auto has shown off an extremely affordable, all-electric pickup truck.

By far the most eye-catching figure related to the sleek two-seater Slate Truck is its cost: just $20,000 — before federal EV incentives.

But you get what you pay for. The truck is as bare-bones as it gets, lacking even a radio, speaker system, or touchscreen. Its body panels are molded plastic, its range is a middling 150 miles, its wheels are basic steelies, and the seats are uninspired fabric.

However, the company is betting big on customizability, selling a range of more than 100 accessory items that could turn the vehicle into far more flexible vehicle, like a four-seater SUV with a functioning sound system.

If it sounds a bit like a functional off-brand you'd buy on Amazon, you might be onto something; the e-retail giant's founder Jeff Bezos is reportedly backing the company.

All told, it's an intriguing offering that subverts the prevailing EV formula of lavish specs and prices. A Rivian R1T goes for over $70,000, while a Ford F-150 Lightning, the electric successor to the best-selling vehicle sold in the US for decades, starts at around $50,000. And that's without getting into Tesla's divisive Cybertruck, which was supposed to cost $40,000 but ended up going for an opulent $60,000 instead.

The timing of the announcement is also noteworthy. The Trump administration's tariff war has been disastrous for the auto industry, with experts accusing the president of trying to "break" the sector.

Trump has also vowed to end Biden-era EV tax incentive programs. However, whether the $7,500 federal tax credit for EVs and plug-ins will go away remains unclear.

Even Tesla CEO Elon Musk has contributed to a less favorable market environment, gutting a Department of Energy loans program that once helped his EV maker to survive.

Like all would-be automakers, Slate will face immense challenges in bringing the vehicle to market, not to mention anywhere near the scale at which its much larger rivals operate.

Besides, do truck buyers want this extreme level of modularity in a country where luxury and a barrage of features have reigned supreme?

As The Verge points out, many other failed EV startups have succumbed to the harsh realities of starting up extremely complex production lines.

Slate’s chief commercial officer, Jeremy Snyder, told The Verge that the company has several key advantages over previous attempts, stripping even the manufacturing process down to a bare minimum.

"We have no paint shop, we have no stamping," he said. "Because we only produce one vehicle in the factory with zero options, we’ve moved all of the complexity out of the factory."

Only time will tell if Slate will be able to deliver on its promises and meet preorders by late 2026.

One thing's for sure: it has one key advantage right off the bat: it's not a Cybertruck and isn't associated in any way with Tesla and Musk's increasingly toxic brands.

More on electric pickups: Elon Musk Is Shutting Down the Part of the Government That Helped Him Save Tesla

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