- Auto to support Amazon Auto arrives unexpectedly with an enticing product
- The ultra-simple van is designed for daily use
- The expected EV range is up to 240 miles
Apparently unexpectedly, a start-up EV Amazon supported by Amazon arrived on the stage, offering an ultra-simple and low-cost electric van for the North American market.
With the financing of Jeff Bezos from Amazon, Slate Auto offers a basic and highly configurable basic van which leads the trend of a gargantuan footprint and masses of wasted space, for a compact and highly configurable shell designed for hard work.
Plus dimensioning like a classic Toyota or Nissan truck from the early 1980s, the slate van has easily packaged composite panels which are refreshing without chrome and other decorative keys.
Instead, Slate says that it has made the panels as easy to wrap as possible and sell personalized stickers and wrap kits as little as $ 500 – no costly metal paint options here.
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In addition to that, Slate is a basis price of $ 27,000 (about £ 20,000 / $ 42,000 in), which could see some trucks sold for as little as $ 20,000 or less, depending on local incentives and tax loss.
The two-seater pick-up pickup van is delivered with a 1047-liter loading bay which is an easy height for loading and transport equipment, while the rear can be converted into a five-seat SUV with the appropriate kit and the rear barrel cover, sold by slate.
In terms of power, it is managed by a single engine mounted on the rear axle. So far, Slate has said that the 52.7 kWh or 84.3 kWh larger battery option will be on the table – which have both mounted under the floor for a maximum load space and an interior room.
The truck will have a relatively limited couple (for an EV, anyway) and from 195 LB FT to pressure, with the sprint time of 0-60 mph fixed at eight seconds flat. The top speed is only 90 mph.
There is an important “fruit” at the front, which is large enough for a few handles of hand luggage, while the interior is deliberately basic: there is a phone or tablet and the possibility of adding accessory speakers which are inside the glove box.
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Rather than trying to compete with Elon Musk Cybertruck, Slate deliberately adopted the opposite polar approach – keeping things cheap and simple, offering a good old -fashioned van which can be bought by the masses and worked hard.
Although the style of the body can now be a choice of lifestyle, there are still large expanses of North America (and beyond) which require a truck for daily use, whether for work or simply the transport of many lifestyle accessories.
Admittedly, it will not have the load or the towing capacity of some of the largest trucks. But Slate’s offer looks great and it boasted to be comfortable and, above all, really simple.
The interior is elegant enough not to look completely utilitarian, but it is also refreshing and devoid of soft screens and surfaces which are chewed with hard daily use.
It is delivered as standard with a basic cruise control, a central locking and a USB charging point, because everyone has a smartphone or tablet, right? So let the devices in our pockets take on infotainment tasks.
However, the company assured that it had EV things correctly, namely a decent battery and a usable daily range, as well as a fast load which, according to it, will see a recharge of 10 to 80% of only 30 minutes.
Despite the slate that apparently comes out of nowhere, it checks a lot of boxes for me. That’s all Tesla Cybertruck is not.
Small, discreet, carefully stylish, practical, well considered and well within the reach of the budget of most people. The start-up EV based in Michigan will start the production of its utility truck next year and I would not be surprised if it was a huge success.
