Last Updated on June 27, 2026 by Daily News Staff

The race to bring affordable electric vehicles to American drivers is heating up, and one startup continues to attract major attention: Slate Auto’s compact electric pickup truck.

Since its debut, the Slate Truck has positioned itself as a different kind of EV — one focused less on luxury technology and more on affordability, simplicity, and customization. The company recently revealed important updates, including official pricing, improved range estimates, and the opening of preorders as it moves closer to production. 

Slate Truck Officially Priced at $24,950

When Slate Auto first introduced the truck, the company gained headlines by suggesting an electric pickup could eventually cost under $20,000 after incentives.

That original target has changed, but Slate says the mission remains the same: build a practical electric vehicle at a price point accessible to more consumers.

The base Slate Truck will start at $24,950 before taxes, fees, and optional equipment. The company is also offering SUV conversion options starting around the $30,000 range. 

While it is no longer a sub-$20,000 vehicle, the Slate Truck could still become one of the most affordable new EVs available in the United States.

More Range Than Originally Expected

One of the biggest technical updates is the truck’s improved estimated range.

Early versions of the Slate Truck were expected to offer around 150 miles of range. The company has now increased that estimate to approximately 205 miles using a 63-kWh LFP battery pack. 

The truck is expected to feature:

• Rear-wheel-drive electric motor
• Around 181 horsepower
• Approximately 1,550-pound payload capacity
• Around 2,000-pound towing capability
• NACS charging connector for Tesla Supercharger access 

Jay Leno Takes the Slate Truck for a Drive

The Slate Truck gained additional attention after appearing on Jay Leno’s Garage, where longtime automotive enthusiast Jay Leno tested a prototype version of the vehicle.

The episode gave viewers a closer look at Slate’s unusual approach: instead of building a luxury EV loaded with expensive features, the company created a simple platform that owners can customize over time. 

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The truck’s philosophy includes:

• Easy-to-repair design
• Replaceable body panels
• DIY-friendly customization
• Accessories that allow owners to personalize the vehicle after purchase 

The concept is closer to an automotive “blank canvas” than a traditional factory-built vehicle.

Built Around Customization

Slate’s strategy is different from most automakers. Instead of offering dozens of factory trims, the company plans to sell a basic vehicle and let owners add features later.

Planned upgrades include:

• Interior improvements
• Audio systems
• Roof racks
• Exterior accessories
• Wrap options
• Pickup-to-SUV conversion kits

Slate says it plans to offer more than 175 accessories, allowing owners to build a vehicle based on their needs and budget. 

Production Plans Remain on Track

Slate continues preparing for production at its Indiana manufacturing facility.

The company has raised additional funding, including a reported $650 million funding round, bringing total funding to approximately $1.4 billion. The money is intended to support factory development and production preparation. 

Current plans:

• Production start: Late 2026
• Initial deliveries: Expected toward the end of 2026
• Larger production ramp: Expected in 2027 

Can Slate Change the EV Market?

The Slate Truck represents a different idea about what an electric vehicle should be.

Instead of competing with premium models like the Rivian R1T or Ford F-150 Lightning, Slate is targeting drivers who want something affordable, practical, and easy to personalize.

The biggest challenge now is turning strong consumer interest into actual vehicles on the road.

With tens of thousands of reservations and growing attention from automotive media, Slate has created something rare in today’s auto industry: excitement around a vehicle designed around affordability. 

The next major test will be production.

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Related STM Daily News Coverage

• Electric Vehicle Innovation and Transportation Updates
• Automotive Industry News and Consumer Trends
• The Future of Transportation Technology

Further Reading

• Slate Auto Official Website
  https://www.slate.auto
• Jay Leno’s Garage: Slate Truck First Drive
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6_9_HHLOSY
• TechCrunch: Slate Auto Updates and Production Plans
• Cars.com: Slate Truck Pricing and Specs

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(Family Features) Graduation is an exciting time, but it also means new responsibilities.

“Graduates are stepping into a world filled with opportunities and uncertainties,” said Kevin Quinn, VP, Auto Claims at Mercury Insurance. “Understanding your insurance needs is a crucial step in protecting your future.”

If, like many recent grads, you’ve been on your parents’ auto insurance and now need your own, consider these simple steps from Mercury Insurance to help you get the coverage you need.

1. Review Your Current Coverage
As a starting point, talk to your parents and their insurance agent to understand what coverage you currently have.

“Knowing what coverage you’ve had under your parents’ policy helps you understand what protections you might need going forward,” Quinn said.

2. Decide on Your Coverage
Understanding the different types of coverage available ensures you choose the right protection for your vehicle and situation. Different types of coverage include:

• Liability: Covers damage you cause to others.
• Collision: Covers damage to your car from accidents.
• Comprehensive: Covers non-accident damage (like theft or weather).

3. Check State Requirements
Every state has different auto insurance laws. Look up the minimum coverage requirements for your state or ask an agent to explain them.

4. Get Quotes
Shopping around is essential. Contact multiple insurance companies to get quotes. Different companies offer various rates and discounts, so take the time to compare prices and coverage options to find the best deal. For example, you can obtain a quote from Mercury Insurance online.

Many insurers also offer discounts for safe driving, good grades or combining policies. Be sure to ask about lower rates and potential savings for:

• Good driving record
• Completing driver education courses
• Bundling with other insurance policies

5. Review and Choose
Look over the quotes and coverage options. Select a policy that provides adequate coverage without stretching your budget too thin.

6. Set Up Your Policy
Once you’ve chosen a policy, work with the insurance company to set it up. For example, Mercury Insurance has a team of agents ready to help make this process as seamless and easy as possible. Make sure you understand the terms and conditions to avoid surprises later on and contact an agent if you have any questions.

For more information, visit mercuryinsurance.com or contact your local agent.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock

SOURCE:
Mercury Insurance

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Alan Jenn, University of California, Davis

The U.S. government is in full retreat from its efforts to make vehicles more fuel-efficient, which it had been prioritizing, along with state governments, since the 1970s.

The latest move came on Feb. 12, 2026, when President Donald Trump and the Environmental Protection Agency issued a new rule rescinding the landmark “endangerment finding,” and reversing various emissions limits on cars and trucks. The 2009 finding stated that greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health and welfare. If the new rule stands up in court and is not overruled by Congress, it would undo a key part of the long-standing effort to limit greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.

As a scholar of how vehicle emissions contribute to climate change, I know that the science behind the endangerment finding hasn’t changed. If anything, the evidence has grown that greenhouse gas emissions are warming the planet and threatening people’s health and safety. Heat waves, flooding, sea-level rise and wildfires have only worsened in the decade and a half since the EPA’s ruling.

Regulations over the years have cut emissions from power generation, leaving transportation as the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

The scientific community agrees that vehicle emissions are harmful and should be regulated. The public also agrees, and has indicated strong preferences for cars that pollute less, including both more efficient gas-burning vehicles and electric-powered ones. Consumers have also been drawn to electric vehicles thanks to other benefits such as performance, operation cost and innovative technologies.

That is why I believe the EPA’s move will not stop the public and commercial transition to electric vehicles, but it will make that shift harder, slower and more expensive for everyone.

Putting carmakers in a bind

The most recent EPA rule about vehicle emissions was finalized in 2024. It set emissions limits that can realistically only be met by a large-scale shift to electric vehicles.

Over the past decade and a half, automakers have been building up their capability to produce electric vehicles to meet these fleet requirements, and a combination of regulations such as California’s zero-emission-vehicle requirements have worked together to ensure customers can get their hands on EVs. The zero-emission-vehicle rules require automakers to produce EVs for the California market, which in turn make it easier for the companies to meet their efficiency and emissions targets from the federal government. These collectively pressure automakers to provide a steady supply of electric vehicles to consumers.

The new EPA move would undo the 2024 EPA vehicle-emissions rule and other federal regulations that also limit emissions from vehicles, such as the heavy-duty vehicle emissions rule.

The possibility of a regulatory reversal puts automakers into a state of uncertainty. Legal challenges to the EPA’s shift are all but guaranteed, and the court process could take years.

For companies making decade-long investment decisions, regulatory stability matters more than short-term politics. Disrupting that stability undermines business planning, erodes investor confidence and sends conflicting signals to consumers and suppliers alike.

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A slower roll

The Trump administration has taken other steps to make electric vehicles less attractive to carmakers and consumers.

The White House has already suspended key provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act that provided tax credits for purchasing EVs and halted a US$5 billion investment in a nationwide network of charging stations. And Congress has retracted the federal waiver that allowed California to set its own, stricter emissions limits. In combination, these policies make it hard to buy and drive electric vehicles: Fewer, or no, financial incentives for consumers make the purchases more expensive, and fewer charging stations make travel planning more challenging.

Overturning the EPA’s 2009 endangerment finding would remove the legal basis for regulating climate pollution from vehicles altogether.

But U.S. consumer interest in electric vehicles has been growing, and automakers have already made massive investments to produce electric vehicles and their associated components in the U.S. – such as Hyundai’s EV factory in Georgia and Volkswagen’s Battery Engineering Lab in Tennessee.

Global markets, especially in Europe and China, are also moving decisively toward electrifying large proportions of the vehicles on the road. This move is helped in no small part due to aggressive regulation by their respective governments. The results speak for themselves: Sales of EVs in both the European Union and China have been growing rapidly.

But the pace of change matters. A slower rollout of clean vehicles means more cumulative emissions, more climate damage and more harm to public health.

The EPA’s move seeks to slow the shift to electric vehicles, removing incentives and raising costs – even though the market has shown that cleaner vehicles are viable, the public has shown interest, and the science has never been clearer. But even such a major policy change can’t stop the momentum of those trends.

This is an updated version of an article originally published Aug. 5, 2025.

Alan Jenn, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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