How the ‘build your own’ Slate EV could change the future of cars
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Six years ago, when I was in Los Angeles for the LA Motor Show, I received a call from Elon Musk’s team asking if I’d like to attend a party celebrating the launch of a new product – something called the Cybertruck.
I’ve always had a soft spot for US pick-up trucks – and for electric cars. So after enjoying Elon’s hospitality for the evening – and learning that one of the inspirations for the Cybertruck was the Lotus Esprit, one of my all-time favourite cars – I thought “what the heck” and put down a deposit.
As time went on and the Cybertruck was eventually launched, it became increasingly clear that it was never coming to the UK. Equally, tastes change and although I’ve driven the Cybertruck and really like the way it handles, the shine has worn off rather quickly – and not just from the stainless steel bodywork.
But earlier this year, I met the team behind another all-electric pick-up truck called the Slate. It’s fair to say it has replaced the Cybertruck in my affections.
The Slate is one of the cleverest cars I’ve seen in more than 30 years of reporting on vehicles. Why? Because it’s cheap, it’s cheerful and it’s genuinely brilliant.
Like Tesla, Slate has taken a clean-sheet approach to building a car, but this time the focus is squarely on cost. The Slate is expected to start at less than $25,000 (£18,800 today) – considerably cheaper than a Cybertruck.
Here’s what makes it so clever. You buy a “blank” Slate – a simple pick-up you can leave exactly as it is, complete with wind-up windows, or you can customise it. And that doesn’t just mean colours; you can turn it into an SUV if you want to.
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You can change the wheels, bodywork and interior; you can add speakers, spaces for your own tech and even upgrade to electric windows.
There are dozens of accessories you can fit yourself, or Slate will do it for you. They’ll even wrap it in a choice of colours, or cover it in stripes and stickers.
From a production standpoint, using grey polycarbonate panels keeps costs low. Yet it still has a sense of style – slightly retro to start with – that you can then make your own.
It’s everything the Cybertruck isn’t, especially when it comes to being socially acceptable.
The team at Slate are being coy about export plans – the first cars aren’t expected to be delivered until 2027. But I hope exports will be part of the vision for a vehicle that is far more than just a US pick-up. It could mark a whole new way of making and selling cars.
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