Musk And Bezos Competed With Rockets, Now They're At It With Cars
The new Slate truck in minimalistic.
The two richest men on the planet, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos—in that order—have been competing in the space-bound rocket industry for several years. SpaceX's CEO might have reached orbit first in 2008 with his manned Falcon 1 rocket, while Bezos's Blue Origin New Shepard vessel carried a crew to sub-orbital space in mid-2021. Each has since launched several follow-up rockets with Blue Origin opting for high profile passengers like William Shatner in 2021 and Katy Perry in early 2025.
Now, as if to add an explanation mark to that Katy Perry flight in mid-April, and throw down the proverbial gauntlet to Musk's Tesla, a new Jeff Bezos-backed American startup automaker called Slate Auto has just debuted the potentially game-changing Slate Truck at the unheard price of $20,000 with federal EV incentives. This truck is not only affordable, and about two-thirds the size of a Chevrolet Silverado EV, but it's easily customizable and extremely analog boasting manual windows and no infotainment screen. Slate's strategy that buyers are looking for an affordable, practical EV without frills is bold and daring, given that virtually no cars have manual windows these days and many drivers use the smartphones as navigation devices. In contrast, the cheapest Tesla with power windows and a huge infotainment screen costs $41,000 with the tax incentive.
The name Slate Auto appears innocent enough at first. In fact it seems like a strong, cool brand name until you think about the letters in Slate. Aha! An anagram! That's right folks, rearrange the spelling of 'Slate' and you get 'Tesla.' Now, of course no one from either company is offering a confirmation or denial of whether the name 'Tesla' was borrowed and respelled to form 'Slate,' but in a world of cut-throat competition, we would not be surprised. And with all the issues facing Tesla since Musk started collaborating with Donald Trump, including multiple vehicle recalls, boycotts, falling sales and vandalism, Bezos appears to be launching just at the right time.
The Slate startup unveiled its compact electric truck during an event Thursday night in Long Beach, California, and said the first trucks would g ion sale for under $20,000 with the federal EV tax credit by the end of 2026. Interested buyers can go online and place a $50 refundable reservation on the company's website.
In what was seen as a jab at Musk and his push away from more affordable EVs towards self-driving technology, Slate's chief commercial officer Jeremy Snyder commented that the industry 'has been so focused on autonomy and technology in the vehicle, it's driven prices to a place that most Americans simply can't afford. But we're here to change that.'
The entry-level spec of Slate's truck will offer 150 miles out of a 52.7kWh battery pack, which employs a single 201-hp motor powering the rear wheels. For those who suffer from range anxiety, Slate has also prepared a larger 84.3kWh battery pack that it says will deliver 240 miles of range. And what will make it desirable for many is the fact that it will be able to charge using a North American Charging Standard (NACS) port, the standard quick-charging Tesla setup that most major automakers now use.
Indeed, the industry will be laser-focused on whether Tesla and Musk can bounce back from their myriad of issues as Slate and Bezos surge forward with a rather attractive-looking EV package at first glance and more EVs in the pipeline.
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