New cars are ridiculously expensive. New electric cars, even more so. Could a new American EV startup change that equation?

According to a scoop from TechCrunch’s Sean O’Kane, that’s the goal of Slate Auto. It’s a new automaker that could go out of “stealth mode” soon with an electric pickup truck aiming for an enticing price tag of around $25,000. 

Launching an entirely new car company is no easy endeavor, but Slate reportedly has at least one very deep-pocketed investor: Amazon founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos. 

“Slate, which took root in another Bezos-connected company called Re:Build Manufacturing, has been operating quietly since its founding in 2022,” the tech news publication reported. It has since poached employees from Ford, General Motors, Stellantis, and Harley-Davidson, and other backers may include LA Dodgers owner Mark Walter and billionaire executive Thomas Tull. 

According to the story, Slate’s first product will be a two-seat electric truck likened to the Ford Model T and original Volkswagen Beetle. The company’s website offers no information about the product itself at present, only a portal to sign up for news. A Slate spokesperson declined to comment when reached by InsideEVs.

TechCrunch reported that the company has raised at least $111 million in Series A funding, which included Bezos. The billionaire Amazon founder is also the owner of the Washington Post and the Blue Origin aerospace company. It is said to be headquartered in Michigan, building cars near Indianapolis, Indiana, and with a design studio in California.

Beyond that, no other details about the Slate truck are immediately available. But if the company does launch soon, it would be the first EV startup to appear in the U.S. market since perhaps Fisker Inc. And the failure of that company last year shows the many headwinds facing the automotive startup space. While newcomer Rivian says it’s on track for a profitable year in 2025 and Lucid has its own deep-pocketed investors, making cars is hard—and in an uncertain economic environment, the risks could not be higher. 

At the same time, the EV space is rapidly maturing and trending toward more affordable models. Gone are the days when an EV company could launch with an ultra-exclusive spaceship and a six-figure price tag; these days, buyers want affordability. If Slate can take advantage of built-out battery development costs, secure strong partner relationships for things like electric motors and other parts, and can indeed “challenge the status quo of vehicle design” as that story claims, it may have a shot at success.

More on this as we get it.

Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com