Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
The first vehicle from Slate, a stealthy electric vehicle startup backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has surfaced in Southern California, appearing to confirm the company’s plans to enter the market with a compact, low-cost electric pickup.
A photo posted on Reddit on Wednesday by user u/discostranger09 shows a small, two-seat, dark gray pickup truck on a flatbed trailer, reportedly being unloaded from a shipping container near Los Angeles.
The vehicle, believed to be a concept or early prototype, is tied to Slate, according to TechCrunch, which cited a source familiar with the company’s design plans.
The truck is thought to be intended for investor presentations at Slate’s design studio in Long Beach, California. The Michigan-based startup is developing a two-seat electric pickup priced around $25,000, aiming to undercut more expensive rivals such as Rivian’s R1T, TechCrunch reported earlier this week.
Slate has operated largely in stealth since its founding in 2022 and has quietly hired hundreds of employees, including former staff from Ford, General Motors, Stellantis, and Harley-Davidson, the report said.
The company is headquartered in Troy, Michigan, with a growing presence in Southern California where its design operations are based.
Slate raised at least $111 million in a Series A round in 2023, with Jeff Bezos among 16 investors, according to the report. The company has since closed a Series B round, authorizing nearly 500 million preferred shares at $2.37 apiece, though details have not yet been disclosed in SEC filings.
