This Long Beach studio is designing America's cheapest EV truck

In an echoing Long Beach studio, an ambitious squad of designers is trying to reinvent however electrical vehicles are made.

Slate Auto has assembled a squad of EV engineers from Tesla, Rivian and elsewhere to make America’s least-expensive EV truck. In the warehouse abstraction adjacent operation proviso shops and a Western-themed bar, designers person built clay models and prototypes of a customizable EV motortruck that could outgo fractional arsenic overmuch arsenic the competition.

The company, which has raised much than $700 cardinal from Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and others, says it volition person a motortruck connected the marketplace adjacent twelvemonth for astir $25,000.

Various customization options for the Slate motortruck are shown.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

How does it program to support its sticker terms truthful low?

Buyers volition commencement with a blank slate — a basal motortruck without powerfulness windows oregon adjacent overgarment — and tin past customize it nevertheless they like.

They tin wage other for powerfulness windows, speakers, colored wrapper oregon paint. A $5,000 kit adjacent converts the motortruck into an SUV.

Squeezing retired arsenic overmuch outgo arsenic imaginable portion making it arsenic casual arsenic Legos to drawback connected antithetic options has required analyzable engineering, which is wherefore the institution decided to acceptable up its plan workplace successful Southern California.

The portion is afloat of experts.

Although Slate’s office is successful Troy, Mich., and its vehicles volition beryllium manufactured successful Indiana, overmuch of however they volition look and beryllium assembled came unneurotic successful the Los Angeles area, said Jeremy Snyder, Slate’s main commercialized officer.

“The plan beingness connected the West Coast, specifically successful Los Angeles, has been a immense portion of the automotive manufacture for a precise agelong time,” helium said. “Having that excavation of endowment that resides present was ace important.”

A Slate SUV is among of the configurations available.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

If the thought clicks with capable consumers, institution executives are hopeful that their unsocial concern exemplary volition bolster wide EV adoption.

Skeptics accidental it has yet to beryllium proved that American consumers truly privation a conveyance breached down to the basics, but thousands of imaginable EV owners already person shown interest.

More than 150,000 imaginable buyers enactment down $50 deposits to reserve their spot successful enactment to bargain the motortruck erstwhile it is connected the market.

A ample portion of that request is coming from Los Angeles, Snyder said.

“Los Angeles has played specified a captious relation successful the zero-emissions car industry,” helium said. “I deliberation that it is going to play a precise important relation successful the roll-out of Slate vehicles.”

The company’s archetypal deliveries are expected successful precocious 2026.

Slate is entering the EV marketplace astatine a hard moment, arsenic request for greenish cars has cooled nether the Trump administration. The president ended galore taxation breaks and regulations that were created to nudge much consumers and companies into EVs.

The EV institution Rivian laid disconnected much than 600 workers successful October, and Tesla income person slid this year.

Tesla has shown however pugnacious it is to physique a concern astir an affordable EV by putting its ain affordable conveyance plans connected the backmost burner.

These days, Elon Musk seems much focused connected processing humanoid robots for the masses than connected an affordable EV.

Slate thinks that for a radically reduced price, determination volition beryllium demand. It is imagining that determination are customers who don’t request 4 doors, the size oregon the powerfulness of a modular motortruck oregon the autonomous driving tech of a Tesla.

Slate’s large stake is that a radically reduced sticker terms and a caller benignant of concern exemplary tin rekindle excitement astir the industry. The institution is hoping that customers volition beryllium thrilled to prevention the wealth and past splurge lone connected the features they want.

“We’re going to marque the truck, and past aft that, you marque it yours,” said Slate’s caput of communications, Jeff Jablansky.

Slate trucks person a alloy framework and outer integrative panels that tin beryllium wrapped successful immoderate color. If customers privation to overgarment their vehicle, they tin bash it themselves oregon instrumentality it to a spouse shop.

The modular mentation volition person an electrical scope of 150 miles. That tin beryllium accrued to 240 miles by paying much for a bigger battery.

And those are immoderate of the astir evident options.

Slate’s online customization instrumentality gives customers the state to plan their EV nevertheless they want. Jablansky said imaginable customers person created much than 10 cardinal antithetic configurations of a Slate motortruck online.

Slate hopes that if it tin marque EVs much affordable to buy, a caller radical of consumers volition get to acquisition that EVs besides often outgo little to ain and maintain.

“The full institution was built astir this thought of the affordable vehicle,” Snyder said. “We scrutinize each accessory successful the aforesaid mode that we scrutinize the conveyance to support prices arsenic debased arsenic possible.”

Slate trucks person a alloy framework and outer integrative panels that tin beryllium wrapped successful immoderate color. If customers privation to overgarment their vehicle, they tin bash it themselves oregon instrumentality it to a spouse shop.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Although lone astir 25 of Slate’s 500 employees enactment retired of the Long Beach studio, it has a disproportionate effect connected the company’s product.

To trailblaze and win successful the harsh EV market, the institution decided it needed a beingness successful California, arsenic good arsenic adjacent the accepted bosom of car gathering successful and astir Detroit.

“We knew we needed to person a beingness successful some places to truly recognize what radical wanted,” Jablansky said. “Some companies accidental they’re a California company, immoderate accidental they’re a Detroit company. We request to beryllium an American company.”