Survey Sunday: is Slate Auto’s affordable electric truck going to make it?
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- Electrek's reader survey drew nearly 3,000 responses on whether Slate Auto's affordable electric truck will succeed, with 1,553 voting "maybe" or "no" versus 1,239 voting "absolutely" or "yes" on the brand's market prospects.
- Slate Auto's truck is priced at roughly $25,000 plus destination, with the Jeff Bezos-backed company positioning it as one of the most affordable new vehicles on the US market.
- Ford's Maverick emerged as the central competitive concern, with commenters noting that Ford's "A plan for everyone" pricing makes the ICE Maverick cheaper than the Slate once a spare tire is added.
- Readers flagged the Maverick's OEM-grade tech, integrated infotainment, four real doors, and established nationwide dealer network of factory-trained technicians as advantages Slate currently cannot match.
- One Slate pre-order holder publicly canceled their reservation, citing the hatchback conversion kit as too expensive relative to alternatives they could buy with the same money.
- Survey respondents debated whether Slate could replicate Rivian's path by securing high-profile fleet and commercial contracts, with commenters split on whether urban work-truck buyers would trust a startup's long-term service network.
- Believers pointed to younger business owners, older buyers wanting small trucks, and the truck's open-source modularity as reasons it could thrive in fleet and commercial segments despite consumer skepticism.
Why it matters: Slate's core pitch — a $25,000 back-to-basics truck with thousands of modular upgrades — is already losing pre-orders to its own accessory pricing, and the survey's near-even split suggests Slate is competing primarily against a $20,000 Maverick rather than against other EVs, meaning the launch market may be narrower than backers assumed.
