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Six years ago, when I was in Los Angeles for the LA Motor Show, I got a call from Elon Musk’s team asking if I’d like to attend a party celebrating the launch of a new product – called the Cybertruck.
I’ve always had a soft spot for American pickup trucks and electric cars. So after enjoying Elon’s hospitality for the evening – and learning that one of the inspirations for the Cybertruck was the Lotus Esprit, one of my all-time favorite cars – I thought “what the heck” and put down the deposit.
As time passed and the Cybertruck finally launched, it became clear that it would never come to the UK. Similarly, taste also varies i drove a cybertruck And really like the way it handles, the shine has worn off very quickly – and not just from the stainless steel bodywork.
But earlier this year, I met the team building another all-electric pickup truck called slateIt’s fair to say that it has replaced the Cybertruck in my affections,
The Slate is one of the smartest cars I’ve seen in more than 30 years of reporting on vehicles. Why? Because it’s cheap, it’s fun and it’s really cool.
Like Tesla, Slate has taken a clean-sheet approach to building cars, but this time the focus is entirely on cost. The Slate is expected to be priced under $25,000 (£18,800 today) – significantly cheaper than the Cybertruck.
Here’s what makes it so clever. You Buy a “blank” slate – A simple pickup that you can leave exactly as it is, with a wind-up window, or you can customize it. And that doesn’t just mean color; If you want, you can convert it into an SUV.
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You can change wheels, bodywork and interior; You can add speakers, space for your technology, and even upgrade to electric windows.
There are dozens of accessories you can fit yourself, or Slate will do it for you. They’ll also wrap it in select colors, or cover it in stripes and stickers.
From a production standpoint, using gray polycarbonate panels keeps costs low. Yet it still has a sense of style – a little retro to begin with – that you can later make your own.
It is everything the Cybertruck is not, especially when it comes to being socially acceptable.
The Slate team is skeptical about export plans – the first cars are not expected to be delivered until 2027. But I hope that export will be part of the vision for a vehicle that is more than just an American pickup. This could mark a whole new way of making and selling cars.
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