The Slate Truck EV began development in 2022. It was unveiled for pre-orders last year, and now pricing is more or less finalized. The vehicle is finally ready to be customized in the build-and-price configurator. The Slate has been marketed to the public for its affordability, and while its base MSRP in the $30,000 range is a far cry from the initial $20,000 promise, it’s still not a bad price for a brand-new electric car.
And that has us wondering what a Slate EV looks like when money is no object. When you can throw on every accessory, cosmetic option, and upgrade without having to look at the price tag, what is that going to cost us, and what do we get for the price? Let’s load up the configurator and find out.
The Slate Is Available In Three Body Styles
2027 Slate Truck and SUVSlate
Body Style
MSRP
Blank Slate (pickup)
$24,950
Squareback SUV
$29,950
Fastback SUV
$31,950
Slate keeps things nice and simple for the initial layout. You’ve got three body styles to pick from: the pickup, a boxy SUV that reminds us of a Kia Soul, and a fastback. We’re going with the Fastback. It’s the most expensive option, so it fits the “fully-loaded” bill, but it’s also the coolest looking of the bunch, in our estimation, reminding us of early Jeep Cherokees and Toyota 4Runners.
Slate is working on an open-air kit, too, for that Jeep Wrangler vibe, but pricing isn’t available on this one yet.
Performance Is The Same Across The Board
2027 Slate Truck EV chargingSlate
Slate EV Performance Specs
Power
181 hp
Torque
195 lb-ft
Drivetrain
Single-Motor Rear-Wheel Drive
Range
205 Miles
Towing
1,000 lbs.
0-60
8 Seconds
For now, whichever model you go with, you’re getting the same performance specs. An all-wheel drive variant is in the works, and we expect to see more performance options in the future. But for now, it’s a one-size-fits-all electric-vehicle solution.
Standard Features Are The Same Across The Board
2027 Slate Truck EV interior Slate
Since the Slate is sold by body style, not by trim, you’re getting the same basic features no matter what you go with. By the way, we’re not kidding when we say basic. In the name of keeping the price down, the Slate is remarkably low-tech, and not just for an EV.
- Manual windows
- Climate control
- Dashboard smartphone mount
- Manual-adjust fabric seats
- Cruise control
The Slate uses what it doesn’t have as a selling point. The dashboard smartphone mount is there because there’s no infotainment screen and no speakers. It doesn’t even have an AM/FM radio. Integrated speakers can be added as an option, but pricing hasn’t been made available yet.
Related
America’s New $20,000 EV Truck Is Almost Infinitely Customizable
With uncountable numbers of color options, as well as a variety of interior and exterior accessories, Slate’s EV truck is built to build your own.
Air conditioner controls are all physical knobs, and the hand-crank windows are the last of their kind on the US market. There are bumper cars with more impressive standard features, but this is kinda what we love about the Slate.
Upgrades Are Mostly Down To Personalization
Neon Night Slate SUVSlate
The driving experience in a Slate is the same no matter how you deck it out. The truck is offered with a wide range of personalization and aesthetic options, but almost nothing in the way of creature comforts or performance upgrades. So “fully-loaded” in this case really means that you’ve built a truck or SUV that you think looks really cool, rather than having the “best version” of the vehicle.
We went with the following options for our own fully-loaded build.
- Neon Nights wrap – $1,399.99
- Animated headlights – $349.99
- Animated tail lights – $499.99
- 40-inch rooftop light bar – $799.95
- Five-switch control upgrade – $39.99
- OffGrid MD Roof Basket – $649.00
- Rear-mounted spare tire carrier – $549.99
- Running boards – $349.99
- 2-inch rear hitch receiver kit – $99.99
- Synthwave grille plate – $59.99
- Fender flares – $149.99
- Rear bumper upgrade – $599.99
- Front bumper upgrade – $499.99
- 17-inch accessory wheel set – $1,399.99
- SUV rear armrest – $99.99
- Dash panels – $59.99
- Door bolster insert $64.99
- Door armrest – $49.99
- SUV rear bolster insert – $104.99
- The Throwback interior decal – $49.99
- Center console – $249.99
- SUV all-weather floor liner – $74.99
- All-weather frunk liner – $49.99
- Medkit – $99.99
That gives us a total of $8,353.73 for our accessories subtotal. Tally this up, and here’s what we’re paying for the SUV itself.
Vehicle Subtotal
$31,950
Accessories Subtotal
$8,353.73
Reservation Fee
$300
Total
$40,603.73
Note that this price isn’t final, but it’s in the ballpark of what you can expect to pay for a fully-loaded Slate SUV. We don’t know what the integrated speakers will cost just yet, and Slate hasn’t announced what the delivery fee is going to cost you.
We should note that we went with the most expensive option in most categories to see what a fully loaded model would cost us, but we also took the package deal when certain options were cheaper together. For instance, we could have spent a couple of thousand configuring various colors and decals to try to get the look of the Neon Nights wrap, but the Neon Nights wrap delivers that retro-style “1990s soda cup” look with a single click.
In any event, we could assume that a couple more yet-to-be-priced add-ons and a delivery fee will bump the price up by $5,000, and we’re still looking at one of the cheapest electric SUVs on the market.
What Will It Cost Us To Finance A Slate EV?
Neon Night Slate SUVSlate
It may be one of the cheapest vehicles on the market today, but $40,603 and change ain’t exactly walkin’ around money. Most Slate buyers will be looking to finance the purchase. We don’t know for certain what leasing or financing options the automaker has planned at the moment, but entering the price into the Calculator.net auto loan tool, assuming $10,000 down and a 6.5% interest rate on a five-year loan, gives us the following.
Auto Price
$40,603
Loan Term
60 Months
Interest Rate
6.5%
Down Payment
$10,000
5% Sales Tax
$2,030
Title, Registration, etc.
$3,300
Total Loan Amount
$35,933
Total Loan Interest
$6,251
Monthly Payment
$703
Total Cost Of Purchase
$52,184
We can promise that your math will shake out a little differently than ours. You might have a $20,000 trade-in collecting dust in the garage. You might be able to score a better-than-average interest rate. Maybe you do have the cash on hand to buy this thing and have it paid for right away. Whatever the case, you’ll want to hit up Calculator.net and crunch your own numbers to see what you can expect to pay for the purchase.
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The average cost of a new vehicle, sticker price alone, is around $50,000 these days. If we punch that into the calculator, keeping all other numbers the same, we’re spending $896 a month on a $63,767 purchase. All told, that means a fully-loaded Slate EV has us spending $11,583 below the market average, and that’s when we’re clicking “yes” on everything and trying to be careless with our money.
Is A Fully-Loaded Slate Worth The Price Of Purchase?
Neon Night Slate SUVSlate
There are a lot of variables up in the air at the moment. We don’t know how reliable this car is going to be when it finally hits the market, for instance. We don’t know what sort of options will be made available in the near future, or what they’re going to cost.
What we do know is that the Slate EV has no direct competitors. It’s not so much an alternative to a Tesla or a Hyundai Kona Electric as it is the next stage in the appliance-ification of the EV. There’s no real comparison shopping to do, and it’s priced fairly for what it is. So yeah, a Slate EV is easy to recommend.
As for a fully-loaded Slate EV? It’s hard to argue that any of Slate’s optional features are must-haves. We like the running boards, but you could really deck this thing out in your favorite colors and call it a day. You won’t be missing much by going with a bare-bones model over the fully loaded version, and that’s part of the truck’s charm.
Sources: Slate, Calculator.net.
