Buzzy new EV startup Slate Auto has racked up greater than 100,000 reservations for its customizable low-cost electrical pickup truck, the corporate has confirmed to TechCrunch.
Slate crossed the milestone over the weekend, just a bit greater than two weeks after popping out of stealth mode and unveiling the truck at an occasion in Los Angeles, California. The corporate has mentioned the truck will begin beneath $20,000 after making use of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit score, and plans to construct the automobiles at a former printing plant in Warsaw, Indiana, as TechCrunch first reported.
“We’re actually humbled by America’s response to Slate’s model launch and the launch of our truck,” Slate’s chief business officer Jeremy Snyder mentioned in a press release to TechCrunch. “We’re excited for what the long run holds.”
Amassing 100,000 reservations so rapidly is one signal of how a lot curiosity there was in Slate because it revealed the truck, nevertheless it’s no assure these reservations will translate to gross sales. The corporate is simply asking potential consumers to plop down $50 to order their place in line to finally order the truck; the charge is refundable.
Many different EV startups have touted reservations previously solely to fail to reside as much as the expectations of such large, spherical numbers. Fisker filed for chapter having bought only a few thousand Ocean SUVs regardless of as soon as claiming greater than 60,000 reservations. Lordstown Motors, in the meantime, was charged by the Securities and Change Fee (SEC) for deceptive buyers concerning the variety of “pre-orders” for its personal electrical pickup truck. (Lordstown Motors equally filed for chapter and finally settled with the SEC.)
Slate has large targets for its truck, which — for a presently undisclosed worth — may also be reworked into an SUV. The corporate says it should have capability to make as many as 150,000 automobiles by the top of 2027 on the Indiana manufacturing facility. And it has large backers serving to Slate attempt to attain that aim, a listing that features Jeff Bezos (by way of his household workplace, Bezos Expeditions), Guggenheim Companions CEO Mark Walter, and VC agency Common Catalyst.