Elon Musk and Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) could have company soon with the launch of the Slate electric pickup truck, a new electric vehicle from a company backed by Amazon.com founder and Musk rival Jeff Bezos.
If early demand is any indication, the Slate EV pickup truck could be a hit.
What Happened: The electric pickup truck market has entries from several companies with Tesla, Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) and Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN) all trying to capture new customers and get existing truck owners to make the switch to an EV.
Early demand for the Slate pickup truck could indicate a new player in the market and a rival for those three companies.
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Slate Auto, which counts Bezos among its early investors, has over 100,000 refundable reservations in the two weeks since unveiling its pickup truck design, according to TechCrunch.
“We are truly humbled by American’s response to Slate’s brand launch and the launch of our truck,” Slate’s Chief Commercial Officer Jeremy Snyder told TechCrunch. “We are excited for what the future holds.”
The company unveiled the truck will start below $20,000 with the $7,500 federal EV tax credit. Slate also unveiled that the truck can be converted into an SUV, one of the key features that sets the vehicle apart.
Slate said it will have capacity to make as many as 150,000 vehicles at an Indiana factory by the end of 2027.
How Reservations Stack Up: The 100,000 reservations figure includes the company charging a $50 refundable deposit to secure a place in line for the future truck.
For comparison, Tesla previously collected a $1,000 non-refundable deposit for its highly-anticipated Cybertruck. Third-party estimates showed that Tesla may have had millions of reservations for the pickup truck before launch, while Tesla officially confirmed it had more than one million reservations.
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Reservations don’t always turn into sales as Tesla has found out. There were 39,965 Cybertrucks sold in the United States in 2024 according to estimates from Kelley Blue Book. A Cybertruck recall issued in March showed 46,096 Cybertrucks on the list based on sales from November 2023 through February 2025.
The Cybertruck ranked fifth for U.S. EV sales in 2024, with the F-150 Lightning truck from Ford ranking sixth with 33,510 units sold.
With a starting price point of under $20,000, the Slate vehicle could be considerably cheaper than other electric pickup trucks, like the ones below, with starting prices from Kelley Blue Book.
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F-150 Lightning: $57,090
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Chevrolet Silverado EV: $75,195
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R1T: $71,700
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Cybertruck: $82,235
The $50 refundable deposit compared to the $1,000 non-refundable deposit make the Slate vs. Tesla comparisons tough to muster.
As TechCrunch points out, there is also a history of electric vehicle companies claiming large reservation numbers only to fail to be successful. Fisker claimed 60,000 reservations of the Ocean SUV and sold only a few thousand before declaring bankruptcy. Lordstown Motors also claimed preorder figures for its pickup truck only to later be charged by the SEC for misleading investors with preorder figures and later declaring bankruptcy.
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This article Jeff Bezos-Backed Slate Hits 100K EV Reservations In 2 Weeks: How It Compares To Cybertruck Launch originally appeared on Benzinga.com
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