Alright design folks, gather 'round because things are getting interestingly basic in the world of wheels.
We're all drowning in screens, features, and monthly subscriptions, right?
Even our cars are turning into rolling smartphones with more apps than miles per charge. But what if... what if we just... stopped?
That's the vibe coming from Michigan-based Slate Auto, and honestly, it’s got our design-loving brains buzzing. They've unveiled the Slate Truck, and it's making waves precisely because of what it doesn't have.
What's Missing? Pretty Much Everything You Think You Need
Get this: the Slate Truck, aiming for a sub-$20,000 price tag (after potential federal incentives, fingers crossed!), ditches almost all the modern "essentials":
- No Paint: Yep. It comes in one color: glorious, unadulterated gray. Think raw concrete, but for your truck. Slate calls it simplifying, maybe even "embracing damage." We call it peak industrial chic potential.
- No Stereo: Want tunes? Better charge up that Bluetooth speaker and bring it along. Your phone is the infotainment system. BYOB (Bring Your Own Beats), literally.
- No Touchscreen: Gasp! No giant iPad dominating the dashboard. Just... dashboard. Imagine the clean lines! It’s like a digital detox on wheels.
- Just Two Seats: Forget the crew cab; this is a tool for two.
Okay, So What Do You Get?
Before you write it off as a golf cart with delusions of grandeur, here's the flip side:
- It's Electric: A respectable 150 miles of range. Not cross-country, but perfect for city hauling, farm work, or local adventures.
- It's a Truck: That bed? Big enough for a standard sheet of plywood. Function over form, meeting actual function.
- It's American-Made: Engineered and built right in Michigan.
- It's a Blank Canvas: This is where it gets really interesting for the feedme.design crowd. Slate isn't just going cheap; they're pushing a DIY, personalization angle. That no-paint finish? It's practically begging for a custom wrap, a unique paint job (by you!), or just to be left beautifully raw. It's the ultimate starting point.
Why This is More Than Just a Budget EV
Let's be real, the price is jaw-dropping in today's market where EV trucks often start at triple the cost. But the Slate Truck feels like more than just a reaction to expensive cars. It feels like a design statement.
It’s asking:
- Do we really need all the bells and whistles?
- Can "less is more" apply to our vehicles too?
- Is there beauty in pure utility?
This truck is the antithesis of feature creep and "truck bloat." It’s raw, it’s honest, and it’s unapologetically basic. It’s like the designers took Occam's Razor to a pickup and shaved off everything that wasn't absolutely essential for hauling stuff electrically.
Source: Slate
The $20,000 Question
Will people actually buy it?
Can American consumers, conditioned to expect heated seats and massive touchscreens, embrace this level of radical simplification? Slate Auto (reportedly backed by some big names, maybe even Bezos?) is betting they can.
We should point out that Bezos isn’t front and center as the founder or CEO, but Slate Auto ties back to Amazon in a lot of ways behind the scenes.
Officially, the company is led by Chris Barman, a former Chrysler exec with close to two decades of experience, including time as a VP overseeing electrical and electronic systems.
It’s bold. It’s different. It’s definitely got us talking. Is it the stripped-down future of utility vehicles, a brilliant piece of minimalist design, or just a niche experiment?
It's obviously incredibly early days, and launching a car from a brand most haven't heard of is extremely difficult... but we're excited.
What do you think? Genius move or automotive heresy? Let us know in the comments!
