Slate Auto LAKE ORION TOWNSHIP, Mich. — In a nondescript supplier park in suburban Detroit, an electric vehicle startup backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is building what it hopes will be America’s newest automaker.
“We’ve put together a really solid plan, and we’re working to achieve the plan,” Slate CEO Chris Barman told CNBC.
Courtesy: Slate Auto Slate revealed its unnamed vehicle (the company is telling customers to name it themselves) to notable fanfare, attracting more than 100,000 reservations that required a $50 deposit.
The exteriors of the Slate vehicles also won’t be painted.
Courtesy: Slate Auto “I think it’s super interesting.
Slate Vehicles.
Township of Lake Orion, Michigan. — An electric vehicle startup supported by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, is constructing what it hopes will be America’s newest automaker in a dull supplier park in suburban Detroit.
There are numerous crash-tested cars, dozens of prototypes, a rudimentary lab vehicle skeleton covered in wires, and—most importantly—a busy “beta” assembly line that has been producing electric vehicles for the startup Slate Auto since December.
Slate uses the site, which is close to a sizable General Motors assembly plant, to manufacture over 70 vehicles for internal testing, certification, and other requirements that a business must meet in order to get ready to manufacture and market automobiles in the US.
The beta production line has about a dozen labeled stations for components like the car’s front ends, tailgate, and doors that are placed in bins or on steel and wood surface areas.
In the vibrant facility, workers move between the bins, tables, and assembly line while Pat Benatar’s “Love is a Battlefield” and Whitney Houston’s “Saving All My Love for You” reverberate.
Basic two-seat, two-door electric pickup trucks that can be transformed into various SUV body styles, like a five-seat fastback or into a squared-off appearance like a Jeep Wrangler, are the majority of the vehicles being produced by hand.
Wayland, Michael/CNBC.
In addition to crank windows, injected-molded composite exteriors, and a long list of DIY options, the cars lack infotainment systems. Before adding any extra features or different covers or tops, the goal is to make every car that comes off the line identical in order to minimize complexity.
The concept of a modular, stripped-down car has been discussed by auto executives in light of growing concerns about affordability and connectivity. However, thus far, the obstacles have been greater than the opportunities, or businesses have had difficulty maintaining low prices.
Slate thinks that by reducing costs and simplifying manufacturing, two areas where other EV startups have failed recently, it can succeed where others have failed.
Car veteran and Slate’s head of engineering, Eric Keipper, told CNBC following a tour of the company’s manufacturing facility, “This one’s going to be different for a number of reasons.”. We adopted a back-to-basics, only-the-essentials strategy, and in reality, we’re creating an entirely new product category. “,”.
By revealing its first cars in late April, including a number of two-door electric pickup trucks and converted SUVs, Slate broke out of its “stealth mode” and anticipates starting deliveries by the end of the following year. It’s currently constructing a complete production facility at a former printing plant in Warsaw, Indiana, with the goal of producing up to 150,000 vehicles annually.
Even for an established automaker, the timeline is intimidating, but it’s even more so for a new startup that is setting up its workforce, production processes, and supply chains, among other things. Making cars by hand in a small facility is one thing, but mass manufacturing them is quite another.
The CEO of Slate, Chris Barman, told CNBC, “We’ve put together a really solid plan, and we’re working to achieve the plan.”. This is not to say that we adhere to the plan precisely. Although we must adjust when new information becomes available, we are aware of the steps we must take to eventually have cars that satisfy all of our needs. “.”.
The source is Slate Auto.
To great fanfare, Slate unveiled its unnamed car (the company is advising customers to name it themselves), drawing in over 100,000 reservations with a $50 down payment. Reservations for cars, however, have fallen well short of actual sales for other companies.
Following two rounds of funding that raised $700 million, the company announced that it is now conducting a Series C round of funding. The 2023 Series A round raised $111 million from 16 investors, including Bezos, according to a first report by TechCrunch.
Other electric vehicle startups have required a lot more capital and have rapidly spent billions of dollars every year trying to put a car into production. Slate thinks the vehicle’s engineering and manufacturing, however, can make it much less capital-intensive.
“We are building the affordable vehicle that has long been promised but never been delivered,” Barman stated at the launch on April 24. With a twist, though, it’s a car that people will genuinely adore and be honored to own. “.”.
Other than stating that it intends to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in its Indiana plant, the company declined to discuss future goals like sales and profitability as well as anticipated capital requirements.
“A blank slate.”.
As the initial staff members of the startup, Barman and Keipper, who have experience with Stellantis’ predecessor Fiat Chrysler among other companies, met almost three years ago to talk about the car and Slate’s business plan.
“It started with a blank slate,” Keipper stated. On July 5, 2022, the CEO and I sat down and gazed at a blank whiteboard, which I filled in. Here’s the plan, I said. Let’s get started. “”.
Thank you, Slate.
The company marketed itself and its car as “a radically simple, radically affordable, radically personalizable car” during the unveiling. “.”.
Several “off the shelf” parts from suppliers are used in the car, which has a target starting price of less than $20,000 with an EV credit of up to $7,500. This lowers costs. Additionally, it weighs less because its body is made entirely of injected-molded composite rather than steel or aluminum.
It only has a small driver information screen and no “connectivity” like a modem or big screens. Drivers can use their own gadgets, like a smartphone or tablet, for music and navigation in place of a center infotainment system. Additionally, speakers are optional.
The Slate cars’ exteriors won’t be painted either. According to the company, it was designed to be covered with vinyl film, which would have required a pricey paint shop, which would have required a significant investment from automakers.
After purchasing a vehicle, the company’s foundation is the ability for customers to readily modify it or add anything they want by removing or adding bolts. The business intends to provide certain services, like vehicle wrapping, but clients are free to choose not to use Slate for those tasks and can buy add-ons at a later date.
According to Slate, the truck, which is roughly the length of a two-door Ford Bronco, has just 500 to 700 “end items,” or parts, for final assembly, which is about a fifth fewer than a typical vehicle. In contrast, Slate estimates that other competitors have 2,500 end item parts and thousands more total pieces.
Standing by the beta assembly line, Jamie Standring, a former employee of Karma Automotive and Stellantis/Fiat Chrysler, stated, “Fundamentally, there’s no new technology because technology costs money to develop.”.
In the same way that it’s trying to avoid using a paint shop, Standring said the original plan was to have the vehicle’s frame, upon which everything is built, bolted together, almost like an erector set, to eliminate the need for a full body shop. But, he claimed, the disadvantages ultimately outweighed the advantages.
A typical 52.7-kWh battery with a range of approximately 150 miles or an 84.3-kWh pack with a target range of 240 miles is anticipated to be included with the Slate truck. The business says that SK On is its battery supplier. Only ninety miles per hour is its maximum speed.
“I’m really proud of the team for how they really thought out of the box,” Barman remarked. We intend to give people a variety of options, but we will also have kits and operate lean. “,”.
There are still major obstacles to overcome.
However, more options for customers translate into greater complexity.
Apart from exterior color customization for wraps, customers can customize a total of 160 options across 11 categories on the company’s website. That’s a lot of options for a customer to choose from, and for a business to stock and provide, including dozens of decals, lighting, audio, tires, and wheels.
Although auto analysts view it as one of many possible trouble spots, Slate executives say the goal of customization is to allow customers to make the car their own and easily upgrade or change it whenever they’d like.
Thank you, Slate.
Additional obstacles include a small market for two-door cars, a slower-than-anticipated uptake of EVs, and regulatory uncertainty surrounding federal tax credits that Slate depends on for the vehicle’s affordability, in addition to the typical startup challenges of funding, profitability, and scaling up.
Stephanie Brinley, SandP Global Mobility’s associate director in AutoIntelligence, stated, “They have an intriguing idea.”. How many people actually want to do that much on their own, and how large is the adjustable market?
Less than 90,400 registrations in 2024 were due to the sale of two-door regular cab pickup trucks, such as Slate’s first vehicle. That is equivalent to over 2.5 million four-door crew cab trucks that are registered.
Brinley, who was present at Slate’s California launch event, stated that the company would have to add more vehicles in the future and four-door models to its lineup if it desired to be sustainable. The platform appears to be capable of supporting these models.
“Like all previous startups, their viability will not be based on the first product within the first six months,” Brinley stated. “You just get in the door with the first product. “,”.
A small number of auto startups, including Lordstown Motors, Electric Last Mile Solutions, Fisker, Canoo, and Nikola, achieved some level of production but ultimately filed for bankruptcy. Even more well-funded electric vehicle startups, like Lucid Group and Rivian Automotive, have had to raise money repeatedly to stay in business.
When buyers add options or a new SUV top that can be bolted on and off, industry insiders have also expressed doubts about Slate’s car’s affordability.
Thanks to Slate Auto.
“I find it to be really fascinating. When asked recently about Slate, Tim Kuniskis, CEO of Stellantis’ Ram Truck brand, stated, “We’ve talked about that idea a million times.”. “Now, what will the market actually be used for transactions? It won’t be $20,000 when people begin to option them up. It will cost $35,000, and by that time, you will be in the midsize truck range. “,”.
Slate has not disclosed the exact cost of the car or the cost of customizations without a federal tax credit, which is in doubt under President Donald Trump.
Karl Brauer, an experienced auto analyst with iSeeCars.com, stated that “Slate is an example of why and how hard it is to produce a cheap EV.”. At $27,500, they are manufacturing an electric car with only two seats, a 140-mile range, manual windows, and no touch screen. In my opinion, this makes the car uncompetitive at that point. “..”.
Brauer stated that smaller pickups like the Ford Maverick hybrid, which has a lot more features, and other EVs that are comparable in price could be a better option for buyers.
Even when starting from scratch, the auto industry isn’t an easy business to enter, but Brauer and Brinley praised Slate for trying something different and making an effort to address affordability issues.
“It has modular components. It is cool. “That’s a really smart idea,” Brinley remarked. How many people want to do that is the question, in my opinion, and we’ll find out, but I’m not sure if it’s as high as they believe. “.”.
