Slate Auto, the EV startup backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has raised $650 million in a Sequence C funding spherical that can assist launch its reasonably priced, modular pickup truck in late 2026.
TWG World, a conglomerate co-run by Los Angeles Dodgers proprietor Mark Walter and former Legendary Leisure chief Thomas Tull, led the spherical. Slate has raised about $1.4 billion because it was based in 2022, together with from Jeff Bezos’ personal workplace, former Amazon Senior VP Diego Placentini, and enterprise capital giants like Slauson & Co. and Normal Catalyst.
Slate additionally has former Amazon executives in its management, together with new CEO Peter Faricy (previously Amazon’s Market VP) and co-founder Jeff Wilke (beforehand Amazon’s client division chief).
What’s the Slate truck
Low-price pickup comes as low-cost EVs appear out of attain
Slate truck in pickuip and SUV configurations.Credit score: Slate Auto
Slate is launching with only one automobile: a stripped-down electrical pickup truck whose modular design allows you to select how a lot you really want.
You should purchase SUV, fastback SUV, and “open air” kits if you happen to want rear seating, and insert a pill mount or audio system if you wish to use greater than the instrument show and your cellphone. Somewhat than portray every truck, Slate gives wraps that allow you to select from a variety of colours for the physique and roof.
The minimalist method helps maintain the worth down, with Slate planning to disclose a worth in June that it says ought to sit within the “mid-$20,000s.” The usual SUV equipment ought to price about $5,000.
Manufacturing will begin at a repurposed printing manufacturing unit in Warsaw, Indiana, giving it the identical made-in-America declare as fellow EV newcomers like Rivian and VW’s Scout Motors.
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Slate goals to remain reasonably priced
Shopper curiosity is robust
The debut comes at a vital second. EV gross sales are dropping sharply within the U.S. for many manufacturers exterior of Tesla, due largely to the federal authorities ending its $7,500 tax credit score. As many EVs are mid-range or luxurious fashions, the choice has made electrical vehicles unattainable for some consumers.
The Slate truck probably avoids this downside with a beginning worth low sufficient to stay reasonably priced, even with the add-ons essential to match standard automobiles. Early curiosity has been robust with the corporate recording over 160,000 reservations as of April 2026, though these clients aren’t obliged to purchase the truck when pre-orders start.
What the long run could maintain
Slate is not assured to succeed even after the Sequence C funding spherical and Jeff Bezos’ involvement. A number of high-profile EV corporations have failed, together with the revived Fisker, Detroit Electrical, and Lordstown Motors. Not like these manufacturers, nonetheless, Slate has each really distinctive promoting factors and backers which are extra more likely to keep even when the launch is not a right away success.
