The $26,400 Electric Pickup: What You Actually Get for the Price

Slate made headlines in June when it announced the starting price of its bare-bones electric pickup truck: $24,950. That number put the truck squarely in the mid-$20,000 range the company had been promising. But anyone who has bought a car recently knows the advertised price is rarely the final number.

Automakers tack on a mandatory destination fee that varies by brand, and those fees have been climbing steadily. Slate’s charge turned out to be $1,450, lower than many rivals but not the cheapest. That pushes the real starting price to $26,400 before taxes.

Is $26,400 a deal? It depends on what you’re willing to give up. For that money, you get a two-seat truck with no paint, no stereo, no power windows, and no infotainment screen. The range is roughly 200 miles. The only digital display is a small gauge cluster that shows the required backup camera.

Everything else is optional. Slate is betting that buyers who want a stripped-down, no-frills work vehicle will see the value, especially with gas prices staying high. , though it matches the fee on a BMW X5.

The bigger question is how the Slate truck stacks up against gas-powered alternatives like the Ford Maverick, which starts around $28,145 before destination. On paper, the gap is narrow. But Slate argues the real advantage is long-term ownership. The truck is designed to be simple enough for home mechanics.

Body panels and bumpers are easy to swap, and Slate even offers online tutorials through its Slate University series. Meanwhile. Ford’s CEO recently admitted that working on a modern Bronco at home is nearly impossible without specialized tools. That kind of repairability could save owners thousands over the life of the vehicle, and that might be the real selling point.