The beta production line consists of about a dozen stations dedicated to specific components like doors, tailgates, and front ends.Employees assemble the vehicles, accompanied by music like Whitney Houston’s “Saving All My Love for You” and Pat Benatar’s “Love is a Battlefield.”

The vehicles are currently two-seat, two-door electric pickup trucks that can be modified into SUVs.These vehicles feature injected-molded composite exteriors, manual windows, and minimal infotainment systems, emphasizing a do-it-yourself approach. The initial plan is to produce identical vehicles before offering additional features.

While other auto manufacturers have considered similar modular, stripped-down vehicles, Slate Auto aims to succeed by focusing on simplified manufacturing and cost reduction. Some companies have struggled to keep prices down.

“This one’s going to be different for a number of reasons,” said Slate’s head of engineering, Eric Keipper. “We took the back-to-basics, only-the-essentials approach, and, really, we’re building a completely new category of product.”

Slate Auto emerged from “stealth mode” in late April, showcasing its electric pickup trucks and SUVs. The company plans to begin deliveries by the end of next year and is developing a full production facility in Warsaw,Indiana,with a capacity of up to 150,000 vehicles annually.

Chris Barman,Slate’s CEO, stated, “We’ve put together a really solid plan, and we’re working to achieve the plan. It doesn’t mean that we follow the plan exactly.We gotta pivot when different information comes, but we understand what we’ve got to do to ultimately get to the goal of having vehicles that meet all of our requirements.”

The company’s unnamed vehicle has garnered significant interest, with over 100,000 reservations requiring a $50 deposit. Slate Auto is currently in a Series C round of financing, having raised $700 million in previous rounds. TechCrunch reported that the Series A round in 2023 raised $111 million from 16 investors, including Bezos.

While other EV startups have required ample funding, some needing significantly more funding, Slate Auto believes it can operate with less capital due to its engineering and production approach.

“We are building the affordable vehicle that has long been promised but never been delivered,” Barman said during the April 24 debut.”But with a twist,it’s a vehicle people are actually going to love and be proud to own.”

The company has not disclosed specific sales, profitability targets, or capital requirements, but it plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in its Indiana plant.

Barman and Keipper, both veterans of Stellantis predecessor Fiat chrysler, began working together nearly three years ago to develop Slate’s business plan.

“It started with a blank slate,” said Keipper. “The CEO and I sat together on the fifth of July in 2022 and looked at a blank whiteboard, and I filled it. I said,’here’s the plan. Let’s do this.'”

The company is positioning its vehicle as “a radically simple, radically affordable, radically personalizable car.”

The vehicle, with a targeted starting price of under $20,000 with a potential $7,500 EV credit, utilizes many “off the shelf” parts to reduce costs. Its body is made of injected molded composite instead of steel or aluminum, further lowering costs and weight.

It lacks “connectivity” features like a modem or large screens, opting for a small driver information screen. Drivers can use their own devices for navigation and music. Speakers are optional.

The exteriors of the vehicles are designed to be wrapped with vinyl film,eliminating the need for a paint shop. The company aims to allow consumers to easily customize their vehicles by adding or removing bolts. Slate Auto plans to offer services like vehicle wrapping but does not require customers to use them.

Slate Auto states that the truck, about the size of a two-door Ford Bronco, has significantly fewer parts than a typical vehicle, with only 500 to 700 “end items” for final assembly, compared to an estimated 2,500 for competitors.

“Fundamentally,there’s no new technology because technology costs money to develop,” said Jamie Standring,formerly with Karma Automotive and Stellantis/Fiat Chrysler.

Standring mentioned that the initial concept involved a frame that could be bolted together, but the drawbacks outweighed the benefits.

the Slate Auto truck is expected to come with a standard 52.7-kWh battery providing an estimated range of around 150 miles, or an 84.3-kWh pack targeting 240 miles. The battery supplier is SK On. Its top speed is 90 miles per hour.

“I’m really proud of the team for how they really thought out of the box,” Barman said. “We’ll have kits, and we’re doing it in a way that’s lean as well, but we want to offer people many choices.”

on the company’s website, customers can customize their vehicles with 11 categories and 160 options, excluding exterior colors. This extensive customization raises potential challenges for the company in terms of storage and logistics.