The first question Lauren Gregory’s 7-year-old son, James, had about the Slate pickup parked inside the MOTO gathering space in Ferndale, Michigan, spoke volumes about what the electric truck is not.
“He said when he got in, ‘Where’s the TVs?’” Gregory said, standing beside the truck as intrigued guests filtered through the room. “It’s very simple on the inside.”
The truck, the creation of a Jeff Bezos-backed electric vehicle startup with an office in Troy, Michigan, is not a typical pickup.
The version shown on June 29 was a prototype, so not ready for production, but the model potential customers hope to see next year won’t include many of the accoutrements — infotainment systems being a notable absence — that modern-day car buyers have come to expect. Those additions, the folks at Slate noted, also help drive up the cost of new cars, a key gripe of many consumers and something that this vehicle is designed to address, with a price tag expected to be in the mid-$20,000s.
Gregory, 41, of Beverly Hills, unlike some other folks who spoke to a Free Press reporter — part of the USA TODAY Network — has not placed a $50 refundable reservation for the truck, but she indicated she’s intrigued because it’s billed as highly customizable. In fact, the vehicles would start as two-seater trucks but offer kits to transform them, with seating for five possible. The options include a squareback or fastback SUV, open air or cargo.
Gregory said her son “loves the idea it’s a Mr. Potato Head,” one of the best-known customizable children’s toys.
Some consumers, she noted, might find the hand-cranked windows to be “non-negotiable,” but not Gregory.
“I feel like everything’s done for us these days,” she said, noting that a hand-cranked window would be “perfectly fine.”
In case you missed it: Is the Slate electric pickup truck a Tesla killer? What the Bezos-backed truck could mean for the EV race
That was the assessment from a number of folks, remembering with some nostalgia the cars of past eras before electronics took over. One man sounded genuinely surprised that the crank actually worked on this model.
Craig Woods, 65, of Allendale, near Grand Rapids, drove from western Michigan specifically to see and touch the two-seater truck. It reminded Woods of his old Ford Ranger, a smaller truck than the version on the roads today.
“I was always looking for a small pickup,” not “beastly” like other available models, Woods said. “Overall, the vehicle looks like it’s going to be a good, solid, entry-level EV.”
Woods, who put in his $50 reservation a couple of months ago, drives a Kia Soul with a trailer to handle his towing needs currently. If he’s able to purchase a Slate, it would be his first EV, hitting a price point that makes going electric attractive.
Woods said he wants to do his part for the environment, but even beyond that, he said he believes EVs represent the future direction of transportation.
The rear-wheel-drive Slate will offer two battery options, of up to 150 miles or 240 miles of range. The vehicles will be built in Warsaw, Indiana, and Slate said it intends to sell directly to consumers.
The truck is expected to have a towing capacity of 1,000 pounds, with a cargo bed that’s 35.1 cubic feet and 5 feet long. The frunk (where the engine would normally sit in non-electric vehicles) is 7 cubic feet, according to the company.
The vehicles will come in a basic gray, with color customization through wraps. The company said it will have wrap kits starting at about $500.
The model on display on Sunday had a blue wrap with orangish-yellow striping along the lower sides, with a couple of palm tree silhouettes.
Derek Ochodnicky, 38, of Berkley would probably be OK with the stock color (he loves gray). Michigan winters had him wondering about the longevity of a wrap.
He’d brought his daughter, 2-year-old Dani, along to see the Slate. She loves cars, he noted. Ochodnicky, who likes to “mod cars,” indicated he’d be looking at the SUV option, as a two-seater “probably won’t cut it” with Dani and an expected future sibling.
If the price is in the $20,000-$25,000 range, that would appeal to him.
Ochodnicky wasn’t sold, however, on the exposed bolts on the sides of the vehicle, a possible invitation he thought for a passerby with nefarious plans. He said he’d be “interested to see what the fit and finish is when it reaches production.”
A Slate agent on site, Kylee Flake, indicated that the bolts would remain visible.
Ochodnicky did note the conundrum that some buyers may face.
“Part of me” wants the back-to-basics vehicle, but Ochodnicky said he also likes his creature comforts.
Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Become a subscriber. Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Bezos-backed Slate electric truck draws crowds at Midwest showcase
