Slate Auto FAQ: your questions answered

Alright, we get it. Y’all are excited about Slate. We thought the little Slate Truck was cool, but based on the number of clicks and comments on our Slate Auto articles so far, you’d like to know more. Many of you wrote in with questions and more than a few people raised some doubts.

So, we wanted to address as many of those as we could. Here’s your one-stop shop for Slate answers based on your questions — plus a few of our own.

What are the Slate’s full specs, and how does it compare to a Ford Maverick or F-150?

The Slate is clearly a vehicle built for everyday utility, and while it’ll make for a handy machine for hauling a lot of things, big towing and heavy cargo were clearly not a top priority. Here are the key specs, compared against the four-wheel drive hybrid Ford Maverick with the 2.5-liter engine and a Ford F-150 4×2 with a 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6.

It’s worth noting that these Ford numbers vary widely based on configuration. For example, you can get a “4K Tow Package” on the Maverick that boosts towing to 4,000 lbs, and the F-150 has hundreds of variations depending on need. Max towing on an F-150 is 13,500 lbs. The numbers above represent the figures quoted by Ford for a base, option-free vehicle.

And one final note: towing substantially reduces the efficiency of the tow vehicle, due to the weight of the trailer and its additional aerodynamic drag. For an electric vehicle like the Slate, that will surely result in reduced range, perhaps by as much as half depending on the trailer.

Where will the vehicle be manufactured?

Slate has confirmed manufacturing will take place in a former catalog printing facility in Warsaw, Indiana, which closed in 2023. Slate hopes to renovate the facility and eventually employ 2,000 workers, with an annual production volume of 150,000 vehicles. And the company is seeking tax abatements on the factory site from the county government to begin construction. Full details on that here.

That domestic production should mean that vehicles produced by Slate are eligible for the full $7,500 federal rebate — if the credit still exists late next year when the Truck enters production.

Does the Slate Truck have a cellular connection?

No, the Slate Truck does not have built-in cellular connectivity. LTE is an increasingly common feature in new cars, enabling auto manufacturers to do all sorts of stuff, including good things like software updates and some perhaps not so good things like selling your driving data.

For the former, o-the-air updates will still be possible via the Slate smartphone app. Updates will be downloaded to the phone and then pushed to the Slate Truck via USB cable. As for the latter, that leads us to our next question.

Will Slate harvest and sell my driving data?

Not your driving data, no, but you can upload data about the health of your vehicle. Jeff Jablansky, Slate Auto’s head of public relations and communications, gave us this example:

“A ‘check engine’ light comes on: if the driver has their phone plugged in and has opted in to data movement, the company will send a notification to the Slate app so they can be aware of potential service needs.”

Jablansky confirmed that no data will be sold to third parties.

Can I precondition my Slate Truck?

One of the joys of owning a modern EV is easy preconditioning. Regardless of where your car is parked, you can get the interior warmed up or cooled down from just a few taps on your smartphone, all without having to worry about filling your garage with carbon monoxide.

Can you do that in the Slate Truck? Maybe. The lack of cellular connection means you won’t be able to wirelessly connect to your Truck from anywhere, but Jablansky didn’t rule it out entirely, saying, “This is something we are working on through the app.”

Will Slate make models available for designing 3D-printed accessories?

Ready to download some STL/3MF files today and start designing your ultimate cupholder? Us, too, but we’ll need to be patient for a little bit. “The Maker community is incredibly important to Slate, and we are on track toward delivering on this commitment closer to launch,” Jablansky says.

So stay tuned on that front. Jablansky says this will also include details on third-party accessory providers and licensing.

Why didn’t Slate use standard DIN slots for ease of installing audio?

The DIN slot, also known as the ISO 7736 or Deutsches Institut für Normung 75490 slot, has long been the standard for in-dash audio. Why, then, are there no DIN slots on the Slate Truck? Slate says it was to offer greater flexibility. “We wanted to allow the customer to pick and choose their accessories without forcing combinations of options together in packages. This comes to life in our audio strategy to allow customers to choose to install anything from a Bluetooth speaker to a full audio system,” Jablansky says.

So the bad news is if you want to use a standard DIN receiver, then you’ll need to DIY an enclosure for it. The good news is if you just want to mount a Bluetooth sound bar, then you won’t have to worry about filling any gaping rectangular holes in the dashboard.

Is a more advanced active driver assistance system in the works?

No. “Consistent with our broader approach, we focused our engineering to make a Slate a great truck to drive,” Jablansky says.

Keep those hands on the wheel, folks.

Why choose a Truck to start instead of a sedan or compact SUV?

Cost and simplicity, it turns out. Jablansky says that “a two-door form factor meant less material, less complexity, lower cost.” He adds that the lockable frunk means there’s sedan-like secure storage for your stuff, with the added benefit of a big bed out back. And, of course, you can add on the SUV kit if you need more seating or more covered storage.

Will any special tools be required for any of the DIY upgrades and add-ons?

Per Jablansky, special tools are not expected to be required.

Will this thing really sell for $20,000? What about tariffs? What if the EV incentives go away?

It’s a dynamic world and dynamic industry out there right now, but Slate isn’t backing down. “We are committed to our expected price point of $20,000 after federal incentives,” Jablansky says, which implies an MSRP of roughly $27,500. “If incentives go away, Slate will remain well-positioned in the U.S. with a strong proposition of value, safety, and customization.”

Will those attributes be enough to woo people away from a Ford Maverick, which starts at just over $28,000? We’ll have to wait and see.

Jablansky says that Slate is also committed to US manufacturing, which should fend off most of the tariff fears, and that the company is still on track to start manufacturing in 2026.