Could Newcomer Slate’s Proposed Pickup Fill A Niche Through Affordability?

The word “affordable” isn’t associated with pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles. Neither is “small.” A base model, two-wheel-drive 2025 Ford F150 has an MSRP of $37,250. It has an 145.4-inch wheelbase and weighs in at 4,490 pounds. (A high-end Raptor version of the F-150 can cost $164,450, making it unaffordable to many buyers.)

Now imagine an unadorned, entry level pickup with a 108.9-inch wheelbase and weighing 3,602 pounds – with a starting price of less than $20,000 “after federal incentives.”

Might it be useful and all that’s really needed for weekend trips to the home improvement store or garden center?

A new American manufacturer called Slate proposes to introduce such a truck in 2026; a two-seat electric model with a standard of range of 150 miles. The base model won’t be loaded with accessories and will only come in slate gray. So basic will it be that it’ll even have crank windows.

Essentially, the Slate model will present a blank slate in the form of the “most radically simple, wildly personalizable vehicle out there.” More than 100 accessories will be available to add to and/or to upgrade whenever the urge hits.

The company’s website notes, “We’re all about doing one thing really well, and that thing is making a single vehicle that’s built to last, made in the USA, meets the highest safety standards and can be updated, accessorized and transformed at any time. “

If you want to transform it with a rare color, it’s designed to be wrapped. And if it a pickup doesn’t suit all your needs, it can be modified into a five-seat SUV with roll cage, airbags and rear seat. There’s also an accessory battery pack that will increase the range to 240 miles.

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Slate announced its plans on Thursday, reporting that models will be produced “at a re-industrialized factory in the U.S.” The company plans a direct-to-consumer sales approach – which isn’t allowed in Connecticut – and will have a nationwide service network. The company is now taking $50 deposits on its website.

While Slate’s reveal prompts many questions, such as will its models even make it to market, it does make one ponder whether there might be a real need for such inexpensive, small models in a pickup and SUV world filled with pricy behemoths.

Or would a gas-powered Ford Maverick pickup, which is smaller than the F-150, be sufficient with its base price of $28,590?

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(Photos courtesy of Slate.)