Slate electric pickup starts at $24,950 and ships late 2026

The Slate has a 5-foot bed that holds 35.1 cubic feet, before any aftermarket add-ons that stretch the usable space. Payload, the weight you can put in the cab and bed, is rated at 1,550 pounds, and the truck can tow up to 2,000 pounds.

There’s also a front trunk (a frunk) under the hood, worth about 7 more cubic feet. Gas trucks can’t offer that, because their engine lives there. It’s a handy spot for groceries or a toolbag you don’t want sliding around the bed.

Under the skin, the single 135 kW motor drives the rear wheels and makes 181 horsepower and 195 lb-ft of torque. Those numbers are in the same ballpark as the hybrid Maverick.

Next to a full-size F-150, the Slate looks small. The cheapest 2026 F-150 has a 5.5-foot bed with up to 52.8 cubic feet of space, a 2,440-pound payload and a 13,500-pound towing rating. Nobody should buy a Slate to pull a big camper or haul pallets of bricks.

The fairer match is another compact pickup. The base 2026 Ford Maverick is rated for 2,000 pounds of towing and a 1,500-pound payload, so the Slate edges it on payload and ties it on towing. The Maverick’s bed is actually shorter, at 4.5 feet.

For trips to the hardware store, moving boxes for a friend, hauling a couple of bikes or packing for a camping weekend, the Slate does the job. It is also cheaper than many small SUVs that people buy for the same reasons, and an open bed is far easier to load than a hatch.

The Slate’s biggest weakness is range, and it gets worse the moment you put it to work. In good conditions, the truck is rated for up to 205 miles on a charge.

Towing is hard on every electric truck. A Rivian R1T with its largest battery is rated at up to 328 miles, but pulling near its 11,000-pound limit cuts that in half, to about 164 miles. Apply the same kind of loss to the Slate, and towing at its 2,000-pound limit could leave you with 100 miles or less.

A full bed hurts too, though less. Going by the Ford F-150 Lightning, a heavy cargo load can trim range by as much as 25 percent. If your idea of a truck day is a short run to the garden center, that’s fine. If it means towing a trailer two hours to the lake, plan your charging stops carefully.

Another limit is traction. The Slate is rear-wheel drive only. In an email shared on a fan forum, Slate said all-wheel drive is planned for a future version, but the company hasn’t confirmed it publicly, and it won’t be offered at launch. Slate says its setup is a balance between range, towing, stability and heat, since long towing runs can overheat the motor and battery parts in any EV.

The headline price buys a deliberately bare truck. The cab has two seats, crank windows, manual mirrors and three simple climate dials. Even a built-in speaker is a paid extra. A small digital display shows your speed and the backup camera, and a phone mount can stand in for navigation.

Then come the fees. Slate charges a $1,450 destination fee, which brings the starting price to $26,400. Most buyers will add something from a list of more than 200 accessories and wraps, and SUV-style body kits can turn the two-seater into something with a back seat. Each one pushes the bill higher.

Even so, a modestly equipped Slate could still undercut most gas pickups, and you won’t spend money on fuel. That is the core of the pitch.

Early drivers have liked the simplicity. On a 45-minute test drive of a well-used prototype, one reviewer found the cabin easy to learn and the view out good. At 68 inches tall, the truck sits about as high as most crossovers.

The first Slate trucks are due before the end of 2026, and some buyers may get theirs as soon as December. Slate emailed people who had paid a non-refundable $300 preorder and offered some of them a December 2026 delivery window.

Others were shown windows spread through 2027, and new orders are likely to ship from the factory in Warsaw, Indiana, from about July 2027. Slate says the plant can build 150,000 trucks a year. Earlier, the company had collected more than 100,000 refundable $50 reservations, plus 10,000 paid preorders within the first few hours after pricing went live.

Competition is coming. Ford’s roughly $30,000 Fathom electric truck opens for preorders in early 2027 and is expected to include basics like power windows and a radio that the Slate leaves out. If you’re torn, the next few months of owner reviews will show whether the Slate’s range holds up in daily use.