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Startup Promises Bare-Bones $25K EV Truck, Customers Sign Up For 2026 Delivery Roulette

KEY POINTS

  • •Slate, backed by Jeff Bezos, announced that its affordable $25K electric pickup truck aims for initial deliveries in December 2026.
  • •Early customers paid a nonrefundable $300 preorder, with delivery windows now including late 2026 or extended dates up to September 2027.
  • •The truck’s bare-bones features include two seats, crank windows, and optional add-ons, competing with Ford’s pricier, better-equipped Fathom arriving in Fall 2027.

Meet Slate, the Jeff Bezos-backed startup tasked with revolutionizing electric pickups by stripping everything down to the essentials: a gray $24,950 truck sporting exactly two seats, a 205-mile range, and—brace yourself—crank windows, because apparently power windows are an optional luxury. With original delivery dates nebulously set for 'late 2026,' Slate has now quietly specified deliveries possible by December 2026, if you’re lucky enough to snag one of those precious early slots after dropping a nonrefundable $300 preorder. For everyone else, the wait extends well into 2027—up to September. Adding color wraps, Bluetooth speaker holders, or a fictional SUV kit? That’ll cost extra, naturally. Meanwhile, Ford's $28,350 Fathom pickup—with four doors, Apple Maps, and power windows—looms on the horizon for Fall 2027, ready to make you feel maybe paying a few grand more is worth it. A final kicker? Over 180,000 people forked over $50 just to park in Slate’s delivery queue, eagerly awaiting their chance to crank a window soon enough to make humanity question its choices. We're all terrible drivers of our own lives, apparently—including the people who signed up for this eco-budget gamble on wheels.

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Source: Businessinsider | Published: 9/3/2026 | Author: Ben Shimkus

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