Jun 26, 2026 · 45 min · 11 segments
In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss Slate's…
Seth WeintraubHostWhen it was unveiled last year, they talked about less than $20,000, but that was prior to the, the big beautiful bill and, uh, the, the end of the federal EV subsidy.
So the price though, um, although they go before, uh, destination fees, taxes, and everything, is $24,950.
And the other piece of news that's interesting is that they updated the, the battery pack, so now the- they have a, a base 65 kilowatt hour battery pack that, um, uh, is 63-- uh, 65 kilowatt hour, 63 k- usable, and, uh, that's good enough for 205 miles of range.
So it's a higher range than the original, um, rated one, the-- what, what they originally announced.
But yeah, it's a, you know, small rear-wheel drive motor, you know, no paint, uh, no, um, you know, no powered windows.
Y- y- you get a car, a truck, sorry, a truck with five feet bed, steering wheel, a huge frunk, and, um, 205 miles of range, you know, decent sized battery pack for $25,000.
The main criticism I've seen so far i- are, are from people saying like, "Oh, you can get a, a used Maverick, uh, for basically the same price, like a two years old Maverick." Which is, which is true, and it is, it is more truck than the Slate.
But it's not electric, and I, I think, I think it's clear that they wanna go, like, uh, for, for, for the electric vehicle, the efficiency market.
And, um, if, if you can get the truck for $25,000, you-- the cost of ownership is gonna be pretty attractive over time with this 'cause, you know, the Maverick is, is, is a fairly efficient fossil fuel-powered truck, but it's not, you know, it's not [chuckles] gonna be as efficient as a Slate that get 205 miles of range on, um, uh, on a 65 kilowatt hour battery pack.
So I, I think, I think this is good news, but the, the, the, the question is like, okay, 100,000 people reserve this.
How many of them reserve them f- for the lower than $20,000 price with incentive? Did, did they understood that it was with the incentive? Did they understood that the incentive went away? Uh, so, so i- i- it's, i- it's gonna be interesting to see what's the actual demand behind, behind this, this vehicle here.
But, um, but Seth, what I'm excited about is if, if it does, you know, get successful, if, if it... 'Cause, I mean, the money is behind it.
When it was unveiled last year, they talked about less than $20,000, but that was prior to the, the big beautiful bill and, uh, the, the end of the federal EV subsidy.
So the price though, um, although they go before, uh, destination fees, taxes, and everything, is $24,950.
And the other piece of news that's interesting is that they updated the, the battery pack, so now the- they have a, a base 65 kilowatt hour battery pack that, um, uh, is 63-- uh, 65 kilowatt hour, 63 k- usable, and, uh, that's good enough for 205 miles of range.
So it's a higher range than the original, um, rated one, the-- what, what they originally announced.
But yeah, it's a, you know, small rear-wheel drive motor, you know, no paint, uh, no, um, you know, no powered windows.
Y- y- you get a car, a truck, sorry, a truck with five feet bed, steering wheel, a huge frunk, and, um, 205 miles of range, you know, decent sized battery pack for $25,000.
The main criticism I've seen so far i- are, are from people saying like, "Oh, you can get a, a used Maverick, uh, for basically the same price, like a two years old Maverick." Which is, which is true, and it is, it is more truck than the Slate.
But it's not electric, and I, I think, I think it's clear that they wanna go, like, uh, for, for, for the electric vehicle, the efficiency market.
And, um, if, if you can get the truck for $25,000, you-- the cost of ownership is gonna be pretty attractive over time with this 'cause, you know, the Maverick is, is, is a fairly efficient fossil fuel-powered truck, but it's not, you know, it's not [chuckles] gonna be as efficient as a Slate that get 205 miles of range on, um, uh, on a 65 kilowatt hour battery pack.
So I, I think, I think this is good news, but the, the, the, the question is like, okay, 100,000 people reserve this.
How many of them reserve them f- for the lower than $20,000 price with incentive? Did, did they understood that it was with the incentive? Did they understood that the incentive went away? Uh, so, so i- i- it's, i- it's gonna be interesting to see what's the actual demand behind, behind this, this vehicle here.
But, um, but Seth, what I'm excited about is if, if it does, you know, get successful, if, if it... 'Cause, I mean, the money is behind it.
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