2027 Slate Truck First Drive Review: There's Potential, But I'm Not Convinced

• What's new: Slate's electric truck is coming later this year, packing 205 miles of estimated range and a $26,400 price tag (including destination). 
• Why it matters: Slate offers customers a bare-bones package with a DIY approach to customization. You can turn this truck into an SUV, add colorful wraps, and really make it your own.
• Edmunds says: Now that we've driven it, some of the Slate's initial shine has come off.

Getting acquainted

Because of its boxy, upright shape, the Slate seems like it'd be easy to get in and out of, but the doorsill is surprisingly wide. I managed to snag my foot on it every time. Once inside, there's great visibility, with a commanding view down the length of the hood and lots of headroom (though, admittedly, I'm only 5 feet, 8 inches tall). Unfortunately, the driver's door slams shut with a shudder, and the truck turns on when you shove the key fob into a slot on the dash, like a late-2000s Volvo.

To describe the Slate's interior in a word: It's austere. The gray plastics look bad. Everything is hard to the touch. The small driver information screen feels about as high-tech as a Garmin. You put your phone in a clip-on device holder — the kind of aftermarket add-on you see Uber drivers using — and throw any of your belongings into the small cubby behind the dashboard. Yes, Slate designed the cabin this way on purpose to match the truck's spruce-it-up-yourself vibe. But if you're used to any modern vehicle, the Slate's gonna seem cheap.

On the road

Every truck comes with a 65-kWh battery pack (63 kWh usable) and single electric motor that produces a modest 181 horsepower and 195 lb-ft of torque. Slate quotes a 205-mile range estimate, which is fine, I guess, though the truck's peak charging rate of 90 kW pales in comparison to pretty much every other modern EV.

I spent an hour bopping around Monterey, Carmel and Pebble Beach, California, dodging multimillion-dollar hypercars and swarms of broccoli-haired wannabe influencers (hey, it was Car Week). The Slate isn't quick — hitting 60 mph is estimated to take 8 seconds — but it pulls away from stoplights without feeling sluggish. Overall, the truck goes, turns and stops in a straightforward manner. There's strong regenerative braking as well, where the truck slows down without you having to touch the brake pedal. You can drive the Slate only by using the throttle, and it'll bring itself to a complete stop. Don't like that feature in EVs? Sorry, in the Slate, you can't turn it off.

The Slate's small size and weighty steering feel make it kinda fun to whip around tight turns. But that's about where my compliments end. There are a lot of fore/aft and side-to-side body motions while accelerating, braking and cornering, so the truck feels uneasy at times, and the ride is, well, trucky — stiffer than other EVs. There's also the issue of wind noise; this thing is loud inside, and the lack of sound-deadening material means there's lots of reverb and echo, even at slower city speeds. Rolling the windows down to catch a breeze makes it hard to have a conversation with a passenger without raising your voice.

The truck I drove was a preproduction prototype — one of only a handful that exist, I'm told — so I'll cut Slate some slack about the fact that this might be the rattliest car I've driven since my 1998 Ford Escort. I want to believe that the trucks destined for customers will be better screwed together and more refined, but we'll see.

Making the Slate make sense

Let me be clear: I am all for cheap transportation, and I certainly understand that sacrifices have to be made in order to meet a low price point. I also really applaud how hard the company is leaning into the customization side of things — you can turn this truck into an SUV with rear seats, add your own graphics, throw in some niceties and make it into something much more interesting than a literal blank Slate.

But therein lies the problem. I went to Slate's website and built what I would consider a decent-ish spec — something I suppose I could live with. It's got a green wrap, speakers in the doors, floor mats, a center console for storage, a tonneau cover for the bed, and a couple of pieces of flair like fun head- and taillights. It's $30,950. And none of Slate's upgrades change the fact that this truck has low-buck interior materials, a stiff ride over bumps and a boomy-loud interior.

The Chevy Bolt we have in our One-Year Road Test fleet? That's a real car, with seating for five passengers and a $28,995 starting price including destination. The Bolt also has a 65-kWh battery pack, but it can charge at a peak rate of 150 kW and we observed 290 miles of real-world range on the Edmunds EV Range Test. The Bolt is also much quicker, hitting 60 mph nearly a second quicker than the truck in our testing and comes with about a million more standard features than the Slate. Remember, the Slate doesn't even come with power windows or a radio with speakers — things I'd have considered basic amenities 25 years ago, let alone today.

OK, maybe you need a truck; after all, the Slate can haul 1,550 pounds of payload and tow a 2,000-pound trailer. Ford will sell you a base Maverick hybrid for right around $30K. Oh, wait, you want an EV? Ford has a sub-$30K truck coming in that space too.

To me, the Slate only makes sense if you snag one of the most basic, bare-bones versions and stick to the $26,400 base price. 

Cautiously optimistic?

When we took our first ride in the Slate truck in June, the company said it had more than 180,000 reservations, and around 10,000 preorders had been placed in the first few hours after the price was announced. We're on the list for one, by the way; I preordered a Slate for our One-Year Road Test fleet, and you can bet we're going to get the cheapest possible configuration.

There seems to be a ton of interest in the Slate, and I really do think this truck could make sense for certain budget-minded shoppers. I can maybe see it as a second car — an errand runner, or your kid's first vehicle. But as a low-cost vehicle for the masses? I'm not convinced. Though I'll be happy to be proven wrong.