With the increasing prices of new cars, many Americans, me included, are coming to a breaking point when it comes to new car shopping.
According to caredge.com, the average price of a new car in the United States for the 2025-year model is $48,641, a sharp uptick from 10 years ago, when it was $33,650. One of the biggest increases in expense has been the light truck market, which when I was growing up used to be what the “lower class” would drive.
In 2023, Toyota launched the IMV 0 pickup, a bare bones truck with a retail price of $10,000. The 2.0-liter gas engine, manual transmission truck, had zero frills and was small but large enough to get most jobs done. The biggest problem? It would never touch American soil due to regulations we have on cars here.
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This truck sparked some conversation on the internet and even in my enthusiast groups. Not everyone needs a huge truck with every option under the sun. Many consumers, sick of unreliable complications and skyrocketing MSRPs yearn for simplicity.
The Ford Maverick was the truck to fill this gap when it started production a few years back.
Touted as “the $20,000 truck” it sold so well that dealers tacked on premiums, which drove the price far away from the point it was advertised. I bought one in January and love it, however mine, while not the base model, was $31,000. It is also not nearly as expensive as some of the other trim levels sell for.
In comes the Slate. The Slate is advertised as the “$20,000” pickup of the near future. It is called the Slate because it is a “blank slate” for customers to build out exactly what they want. Reminiscent of Ford’s Model T, the only color they come in is a gray color. They aren’t even painted, as the gray comes from the molded plastic body panels.
For an extra fee, they will apply a vinyl wrap in any color of your choosing.
The interior is equally sparse and simple. Crank windows and manual locks are the standard. There are physical knobs for the HVAC components, and the instrument cluster is a small LCD screen. If you would like to listen to the radio, bring one with you, as the Slate does not come with one. There are options like a Bluetooth speaker holder available, making your handheld device the navigation and entertainment source.
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The Slate is a two-wheel drive with a 201 horsepower electric motor. With an advertised 150 miles of range, the cost of operation should be fairly cheap. The electric drivetrain has been one of the most controversial things about the Slate along with the limited miles in the “tank.”
So, why so few?
The 150-mile range is almost the exact range the Rivian delivery vans have that are so well loved by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. Bezos has been using the Rivian EDV (electric delivery van) for years and finds that 150 miles is sufficient. He is also one of the biggest investors in Slate through his investment company, Blue Origin.
Last week, Slate CEO Chris Barman announced that the little truck will be built at a 1.4 million square foot plant in Warsaw, Indiana. The plant, a repurposed printing plant, should bring 2,000 jobs to the area, not counting suppliers.
Deliveries for the Slate should be rolling out in 2026 according to Barman.
When looking at the Slate website, you can see there is already a reservation system to get your place in line. For a refundable $50 fee, you will be invited to configure your truck when the time comes on the website with their nifty configuration tool. You can use the configurator without making the reservation, and I’ve been tinkering with it all morning.
What you won’t find is a breakdown of the pricing. The truck is supposed to start at $25,000, so why is it called the $20,000 truck?
EV tax credits, of course. That is, only if those credits will hold until production. Also, Slate may end up with the famous “MSRP creep” that many cars have as they get close to reality. If they can get this out at the price they are talking about, I think they will have huge success.
People have been asking for something simple, so time will tell if that’s what consumers will buy.
As for me, I will see you on the road!
