Slate: With this cheap SUV, Jeff Bezos wants to conquer the USA

Yugo showed it in the 1980s, Dacia perfected it, and Skoda finally showed what is possible as a cheap car brand – even in such demanding Europe. Now the US start-up Slate wants to prove that something like this is also going in the USA. Behind it is US billionaire Jeff Bezos, who now wants to bring the next mass product under the consumers to Amazon with Slate-this time on four wheels. Bezos is not the owner of Slate, but one of the greatest financial supporters.

As a result, two of the richest men in the world compete against each other on the (electrical) car market: Elon Musk demonstrated it with Tesla and made the car brand into an electric icon. With the Tesla Model Y, the company produced the best -selling vehicle in the world. However, it is also musk who, with his appearances and statements, recently caused a break -in in the sales figures.

Slate does not want to invent a new type of mobility, but produce a simple car that can home to a two-seater pick-up with its variable platform as well as a five-seater SUV. Low development and production costs, coupled with a minimal variance, ensure cheap prices. After deducting the corresponding tax discounts, the slate models should start at around $ 20,000.

“The definition of what is supposedly affordable has become absurd,” says Slate CEO Chris Barman. “Slate exists to put the power back into the hands of the customers who were ignored by the auto industry. Slate is a radical commercial vehicle platform that is so customizable that it can turn into a five-seat SUV from a two-seater pick-up.”

The design of the 4.44 meter long pick-up is simple, straightforward, straightforward and somehow sympathetic. A little Ford Bronco, some Jeep Wrangler or Ford Maverick and a touch of Rivian. With its wheelbase of 2.76 meters, the slate pick-up in the cab for two to three people, who are just as surprised via the barren instrumentation as well as about window cranks and steel rims. A small info display for the driver, the rest of the clipped smartphone or tablet of the inmates-apart from the USB ports, is not a frills, but maybe also a lot of automobile sparseness for the second half of the 2020s? But the slate pick-up primarily wants to be a practical commercial vehicle. And with numerous modules and practical details, the slate models can be customized.

For the time being, only one electric motor on the rear axle with 150 kW/204 hp and 264 nm maximum torque ensures the drive. That is enough for 150 km/h and thanks to a battery pake of almost 53 kWh for 150 miles/240 kilometers. Optionally, you can get an 84 kWh battery package, which should be almost 400 kilometers to the next charging stop. Refueling is either on the wall box with eleven kilowatts or 120 kilowatts on a fast loader – not much, but sufficient for many of the customers who are mostly a trader. The almost 1.7-ton pick-up can load 650 kilograms on its open loading area and take light pendants up to 450 kilograms on the hook.

The slate models are manufactured in a rein-industrialized factory in the USA. The electrical pick-up, on the go on the front of McPherson axis and a dedion rear axle with 17-inch, can be converted into an SUV or open crossover with accessories. There are also numerous attachments and foils on the outside to make the slate a real one -off. Corresponding control systems and up to eight airbags ensure security. If you feel like it – the pre -orders cost just $ 50. No wonder the demand is huge.