$25,000 electric van will pay for itself

LOS ANGELES — Electric vehicle startup Slate Auto hopes to defy tough market conditions and avoid the losses its peers have experienced by profitably selling a highly customizable electric vehicle that starts at just under $25,000.

Slate CEO Peter Faricy said every vehicle produced by the Michigan-based EV startup — which is backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Los Angeles Dodgers majority owner Mark Walter will have a positive gross margin. This will enable the company to achieve positive free cash flow and profit before tax and depreciation and amortization by 2027, he said.

“It’s an ambitious goal,” Faricy told CNBC during an interview at the company’s new design studio outside Los Angeles. “No other car manufacturer has been able to do this before. So it’s ambitious. It’s going to take a lot of work. Nothing is guaranteed in life, but you have to have ambitious goals if you want to achieve big things. That’s the big goal we’re aiming for.”

Other recent electric vehicle startups have struggled financially. Automakers such as Lordstown Motors and Fisker Automotive went bankrupt, while Rivian Automobile And Lucid engines reported billions of dollars in annual losses and both recently announced layoffs.

Faricy, a former vice president of Amazon Marketplace who was named head of the automaker in March, said the company can succeed where others have failed thanks to its simplistic product, customer-focused business strategy and breakeven point of about 80,000 vehicles a year.

The break-even point represents just over half of the 150,000-unit production capacity the company plans to have at its Warsaw, Indiana, assembly plant. Slate continues to build this facility while also producing prototype vehicles.

“We have a different cost structure and business model than other automakers,” he said, citing the simplicity of Slate’s vehicle and manufacturing process as well as the ability to customize electric vehicles.

Slate’s flagship is a $24,950 two-seat electric pickup truck that’s so basic that speakers are optional and has wind-up windows. The truck can be converted to a five-passenger sport utility vehicle for an additional $5,000. The vehicles will have a Slate-estimated EV range of 205 miles, 181 horsepower and 195 foot-pounds of torque.

Its performance pales in comparison to much more expensive electric pickup trucks and SUVs, but is in line with similarly priced vehicles.

Slate was in stealth mode until the company unveiled its flagship electric vehicle in April 2025. It said then that its initial starting price would be less than $20,000, but that included up to $7,500 in federal tax incentives available at the time for purchasing an electric vehicle and which have since been discontinued.

The startup has raised more than $1.3 billion in capital over three funding rounds, two of which were led by Walter’s TWG Global investment holding company after a Bezos-affiliated seed round.

Faricy declined to discuss Slate’s financing, but confirmed that the company continues to raise funds opportunistically as it prepares to produce consumer vehicles later this year and ramp up production, with deliveries expected during the fourth quarter.

He didn’t rule out the possibility of Slate going public, but said it would likely be too early to do so before the company ramps up production next year.

“We’re going to constantly look at what our options are. IPO will definitely be one of them,” said Faricy, who was recruited to the company by Slate co-founder and Amazon colleague Jeff Wilke. “2027 is probably too early, in my opinion. I think we’ll really want to make sure we launch and grow the business well.”

Slate has received more than 180,000 reservations for its vehicles and officially opens pre-orders on Wednesday. Reservations required a $50 refundable deposit, but orders will come with $300 non-refundable deposits.

Slate Vehicles President Chris Barman, who was the company’s second employee and first CEO, said current expectations are for the SUV to make up 60 percent of sales, although the pickup is the base model at around $25,000. The starting price is about half the cost of a new vehicle sold, according to data from Cox Automotive.

Faricy praised Barman for her leadership as a “world-class automotive executive” and confirmed he was there to use his experience in retail and the automotive industry before Amazon to take the company to the next stage.

“Companies have different stages of life, and we’re at the stage now where we’re launching production where we’re kind of entering the next phase of our life,” he said. “I’m excited to join as many of the skills I bring are complementary to the existing team.”

When Slate unveiled its vehicle as “a radically simple, radically affordable, and radically customizable car” in April 2025, more than three years had passed since Barman and Eric Keipper, an automotive veteran and Slate’s chief engineering officer, first laid out the road map for electric vehicle development.

The vehicles have injection-molded composite exteriors and a litany of DIY options. The plan is for every vehicle coming off the line to be the same to reduce complexity, before adding features or different covers/tops such as fastback or boxy to resemble a Jeep Wrangler SUV.

Auto industry executives have floated the idea of ​​such a modular, streamlined vehicle as the industry has seen rising connectivity and affordability concerns, but until now the challenges have outweighed the potential opportunities, or companies have struggled to keep prices low.

Slate’s vehicle has no “connectivity” such as a modem or large screens, just a small driver information screen for range, speed and other standard gauges and warnings. Instead of a central infotainment system, drivers can use their own devices, such as a smartphone or tablet, for navigation and music.

The exterior of Slate vehicles will not be painted. The company said they were designed to be wrapped in vinyl film, eliminating the need for an expensive paint shop – a massive investment for automakers.

Slate offers more than 100 standard packaging colors for under $500, but customers can also choose any color or pattern they can imagine. The vehicle will also launch with more than 175 accessories, more than 80 percent of which cost less than $500, including roof racks, stereos and light covers.

“Whoever you are and whatever you love in life, you can now express it through your SUV or truck,” said Faricy, who added that the Slate vehicle he wants is a metallic black fastback SUV. “I can’t wait to create this vehicle.”

The company continues to build the vehicles by hand, with some factory automation, according to Dan Tasiemski, Slate’s head of manufacturing engineering. Slate aims to begin operating the plant under its normal production processes by August, he said.

Slate, which Tasiemski says builds about three vehicles per day, still has to go through required federal validation and certification for things like autonomy, safety and other aspects.

Tough market conditions for electric vehicles aside, Slate’s product is a unicorn – for better or worse.

The vehicle’s modularity is unique, as is its two-door body style. It will be the only pickup truck or SUV on sale in the United States to exclusively offer such a variant without also offering four-door models.

Ford reports that only 10 percent of its Bronco SUV models sold last year were two-door variants. Many small pickup trucks such as the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz offer exclusively four-door models.

Slate has not ruled out adding four-door models, but is focusing only on two-door pickups and SUVs, according to executives.

It’s also exclusively a rear-wheel drive vehicle, compared to four-by-four or all-wheel drive capabilities.

Slate is expected to compete with a growing segment of small gas and electric pickup trucks. Most notably, Ford has bet its future electric vehicles on a new affordable platform, starting next year with a pickup truck. Stellantis’ Ram brand also plans to launch new compact and midsize pickup trucks in the coming years.

Slate plans to deliver its vehicle directly to customers rather than through franchised dealerships, which also presents challenges and opportunities for the company, based on similar experiences from the U.S. electric vehicle leader. TeslaRivian and others.

“I think it’s an important piece,” Faricy said, adding that he believes it will lead to reduced costs and better control of the customer experience. “We’re definitely going to be a direct-to-consumer company.”