After the well -known commitment in Rivian Auto Rg-A by the Founder and President of AmazonJeff Bezosit has made an investment in a New electric truck manufacturer called Slate. The Signature offers an electric vehicle accessible to the common citizen for approximately $ 25,000 which can be customized. That is why his read is «do it yourself,» according to Pras Subramanian in Yahoo Finance. «We build it, you do it,» says the firm.
That is Slate’s motto, a new American electric vehicle company, which has just presented its launch model and has the Amazon exejecutive support, including, as reported, the Jeff Bezos family office.
Slate states that its electric truck (a basic truck with a size smaller than that of a Ford Maverick) will cost around $ 20,000 and will be available in any color, provided it is gray slate. The vehicle, with few options, offers Two battery sizes For the rear -wheel drive truck: a 52.7 kWh battery with an autonomy of 240 km and one of 84.3 kWh with an autonomy of 385 km. However, Michigan’s company will offer a A large number of personalized piecesvinyl coatings and even a roof to turn it into a SUV if the customer wishes. This is where the idea of »doing so to measure» comes into play, since customers will install these elements themselves.
Buyers can also choose not to do any of this and get an economic and utilitarian truck.
«The automotive industry has abandoned the working class in the United States. And what seems so exciting and different from Slate is that we have adopted this position that we are going to manufacture cars for the US working class, in the United States, for Americans,» he said Jeremy Snyder, Commercial Director of Slateto Yahoo Finance. «It’s something that has simply been lost.»
The founders of Slate, the Former Executive Director of Amazon Consumer, Jeff Wilke, and his MIT classmate, Miles Arnonethey set out to create this vehicle so that American workers of all kinds could have an economic, reliable and efficient transport.
As previously reported TechCrunchseveral executives of Amazon are involved in Slate and an important investor: the president and founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos.
As reported, Bezos, through his family office, has a Passive participation and does not participate directly in the day to day of the business. Snyder said Slate would not comment on Bezos’ participation.
However, unlike Rivian, Amazon’s other investment in electric vehicles, Snyder states that SlatE will have a positive cash flow shortly after its production, which will begin at the end of 2026.
To reach that figure is difficult in the current automotive context, where the industry has seen the growth of sales of electric vehicles be slowed after the huge profits recorded in the early decade. The possibility of disappearing federal tax credit for electric vehicles also represents a threat, in addition to the negative effects of President Trump’s tariffs on critical supply chains.
Snyder states that the company can achieve its profitability objectives because All its pieces are manufactured in the United States (except articles such as tires) and the parts of the vehicles are not sealed. The outer pieces are composite pieces, easier to manufacture and avoid Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum.
In addition, the outer pieces are already dyed with gray slate, which means that there is also no painting workshop, which reduces manufacturing costs. And there are no options available in the factory, the assembly is much easier and can be done in a smaller space.
Slate has not yet revealed its manufacturing location or the amount of vehicles that plan to manufacture when the serial production is reached.
A key to achieving profitability objectives is the customization businesswhich offers a greater profit margin. Snyder, who started developing the Tesla retail network, provides that customers to buy pieces to customize their Slate electric vehicles, similar to the App Store for iPhones.
«We focus on DIY,» Snyder added. «It is an open source philosophy that allows customers to choose the vehicle as it is or choose the color they want. They can customize their labeling so that it is to their liking, printing in 3D the covers of the headlights and the rear lights.»
Snyder said: «Everyone wants to be creators, everyone wants to stand out. Everyone wants to make their own brand … we offer the perfect platform for that.»
Potential customers can sign up for the reservations list from today.