Overview
- Slate has begun taking U.S. preorders for the two-seat Blank Slate pickup with a $24,950 base MSRP and has published vehicle specs that include about a 205-mile range and an NACS charging port.
- The company is selling the truck as a deliberately barebones vehicle with many common features sold separately and often requiring DIY installation, which hands-on coverage shows can push a typical build several thousand dollars above the base price.
- Slate confirmed it will not sell the truck in Canada because a roughly 25% reciprocal tariff on U.S.-built vehicles would erase the U.S. price advantage and raise the truck’s Canadian retail cost into the same range as mainstream rivals.
- Major execution questions remain: Slate must convert a large reservation backlog into paid orders, ramp production at its Warsaw, Indiana plant for late-2026 deliveries and set up aftersales support for owner-led conversions.
- Industry observers say the launch tests whether a low-upfront, austerity-plus-customization model can win price-sensitive buyers and that Slate’s approach could pressure legacy automakers focused on feature-rich, higher-margin trucks.