It’s Jeff Bezos vs Elon Musk as Amazon boss gets into the electric car business

New Slate EV is a pick-up that can morph into an SUV – at a fraction of the cost of a Tesla Cybertruck

New Slate EV is backed by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos (Slate)

American EV startup Slate, backed heavily by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has just launched its first model – a build-it-up, all-electric vehicle that starts life as a pick-up truck but can be added to so that it ends up as anything from a family SUV to having a fastback 4x4 look.

The new model is called Slate because the idea is that you start with a clean slate – in this case a budget-priced pick-up – that you can wrap, accessorise or leave it as it is.

In its purest form, Slate is a clever piece of industrial design that’s simple and cheap to manufacture with just one base model priced at $25,000 (£18,765), which could drop below $20,000 (£15,033) with Federal incentives. That makes it one of the cheapest EVs on sale in the US.

More than 100 accessories that can also be bought in bundles will be available from Slate, while it should be easy for DIYers to install many of the extras themselves, or they can get Slate dealers to do it for them.

The Slate EV’s interior doesn’t get an infotainment screen but you can buy a holder for your tablet or smartphone (Slate)

Prices for the accessories should range from hundreds of dollars to thousands for those who want to transform the body’s composite panels and interior of the two-seat Slate pick-up into a five-seat family SUV. Wrap kits to change the look and colour of the outside from the Slate’s standard slate grey start at $500 (£376).

There are plenty of clever design features such as the pick-up’s rear window that can be unbolted and used as part of the boot door of the SUV. And following the lead of other budget cars, there’s no central infotainment touchscreen, just a simple driver display and a range of tablet or phone holders.

Even the windows in the Slate are of the old-school wind-up variety with further packs available to power them. Speakers for audio connections are optional, too, although there’s plenty of safety kit on board including a host of airbags, traction and stability control, autonomous emergency braking and a predicted five star score in the UK NCAP crash tests.

There’s a smattering of luxury kit including keyless entry and start, a reversing camera and auto high beam for the headlights. And as well as the 994 litres of space in the 1,524mm-long load bay, there’s a 198-litre frunk under the squared off bonnet.

Buying extra panels and a wrap kit can transform the Slate pick-up into a colourful family SUV (Slate)

Two batteries will be available: the standard one will give an expected range of 150 miles and the extended battery should go for up to 240 miles, according to US tests. Fast charging is available that will get the Slate’s battery from 20 to 80 per cent charge in around 30 minutes.

In US terms, the Slate is a small pick-up. At 4,434mm long, 1,793mm wide and 1,760mm tall it’s not far off the size of a Nissan Qashqai and would be dwarfed by the Tesla Cybertruck. The Tesla measures 5,683mm long and 2,413mm wide, although it can actually sit lower than the Slate in entry/exit mode at 1,741mm.

The Cybertruck’s price dwarfs the Slate’s, too, even though Tesla prices have dropped recently to boost sales. The Cybertruck now starts at $62,490 after Federal tax incentives and Tesla now has stock of Cybertrucks in the US for immediate delivery.

First deliveries of the Slate won’t be until late in 2026, although reservations are open for just a $50 deposit. And for the time being, the Slate is only being offered in the US.

Slate hasn’t confirmed where the new vehicle will be built yet, although it will be in the US. The batteries, from a Korean firm, will also be made in the US to avoid any import tariffs.