By Phil Royle – Sept. 9, 2026
The rumor mill may have figured out what Slate needs its affordable tiny electric pickup to be: a tool. At a recent ride-along event, Slate’s Fleet Business Development and Government Sales Lead Christian Kreipke apparently described the possibility of a high-roof utility shell option for its (hopefully) forthcoming $25,000 EV pickup. While this iteration is largely unconfirmed (being reported on a Slate forum), Slate is obviously already targeting fleet sales, making the idea of a high-roof model not completely unreasonable. It also makes me realize that this is exactly the direction Slate needs to take. With Ford’s Fathom entering the conversation, there’s not going to be much room for Slate’s small, inexpensive, and featureless electric truck in the consumer market, making fleet sales one of the few places Slate could excel.
Slate’s entire elevator pitch is that it’s simple and affordable. That’s it. Crank windows, no radio – if they could’ve gotten away with no mirrors, they would have. But once you start comparing it with something like the Ford Fathom, which has everything the Slate doesn’t in what we anticipate to be in a four-seater configuration, Slate’s cost-cutting compromises become something of a liability. If the prices are similar (they’re expected to be within $3,000 of each other), the fact that Slate is one step away from a base model mini truck from four decades ago is going to make people think twice.
Buyers will tolerate a lot of cheapness in a $25,000 electric truck, but they’ll be less willing to tolerate it when the truck next to it costs the same and has more. That’s easily solvable if Slate stops targeting consumers and begins eyeing small service fleets. Think repair services, delivery drivers, contractors – people who are going to spend their entire day using the vehicle as a mobile toolbox.
Fleet vehicles are the kind of purchases where the buyer doesn’t care that the driver has to crank a window to breathe. The company purchasing small fleet vehicles cares about price, functionality, and ease of operation. Company’s care about cargo space, they care about whether it can handily carry equipment, they care about operating costs. In a nutshell: does the thing make financial sense.
That’s where a Slate utility shell is smart. Instead of trying to convince consumers to part with $25k in exchange for any luxuries, Slate can say, “Who cares? This is a work vehicle.”
Slate, this is your direction. Stop trying to make your little truck feel like a traditional pickup; make it the simple electric workhorse it needs to be. No pressure, but your company’s survival probably depends on it.
(Image courtesy Slate)
