Response to Slate Auto’s future affordable (promised for $25,000 USD) electric pickup truck has been positive, to say the least.
Indeed, the company backed by Amazon boss Jeff Bezos says it has racked up more than 100,000 reservations in just two weeks.
Model reservations are worth what they're worth, especially since the $50 required is refundable. Recall the massive numbers of registrations collected for the Tesla Cybertruck before it actually launched.
Still, this situation is quite different. Despite the present tepid interest of some swaths of American consumers in all-electric vehicles, the interest and number of reservations show the market has a crying need for affordable models, whether electric or not.
And the roughly $25,000 USD announced price for the base version of Slate Auto’s truck is attractive. We should expect customization options to be offered, to allow buyers the opportunity to gussy up their truck if desired and also provide needed revenue for the automaker. Recall that the base model will be spartan, featuring old-school functions like manually operated windows.
Hand-crank windows or no, the idea of a pickup truck for only $25,000 USD is clearly appealing, especially since there won’t be any trips to the pump for owners.
Many details are still to come, notably regarding the price of options and even a name. That’s assuming the company actually delivers a vehicle, at around the promised price. We’ve seen other startup companies make promises and fail to deliver on them. However, with a firm like Amazon behind it, there’s reason to believe this project might actually lead somewhere.