Slate Auto

Slate Auto is an American startup company that is developing electric vehicles. It was founded in 2022 inside of Re:Build Manufacturing by Miles Arnone, William Barker and Jeff Wilke, and is based in Troy, Michigan. Its investors include Jeff Bezos, Mark Walter, and Re:Build Manufacturing.[3] Its first product will be the Slate Truck, an electric pickup truck that can be converted into an SUV.

History

Slate was founded in 2022, and operated in stealth mode until it revealed the Slate Truck on April 24, 2025.[4] It was originally called "Re:Car", as a project within Re:Build Manufacturing, a domestic manufacturing platform. Slate's three co-founders and co-chairman Miles Arnone, William Barker and Jeff Wilke are all co-founders and leaders at Re:Build Manufacturing. Slate's first several hundred employees include many with experience at Ford, General Motors, Stellantis, and Harley-Davidson.[3] The company is headquartered in Troy, Michigan and has a design studio in Long Beach, California.

Slate raised at least $111 million in Series A financing, including an undisclosed amount from Bezos. Slate then raised $600 million in 2024 from Mark Walter, the controlling owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and CEO of Guggenheim Partners, Jeff Bezos, and General Catalyst, a venture capital firm.[5] In mid-2025, the company said it was launching a third round (Series C) of financing.[6]

Initial manufacturing is expected to occur in Warsaw, Indiana,[7] at a site previously operated by LSC Communications as a printing plant until its closure in 2023.[8] Slate is retrofitting the plant to accommodate its vehicle line, targeting production to begin at the end of 2026.[9] Slate expects a capacity of up to 150,000 vehicles per year.[6]

Vehicles

Slate's first vehicle, a battery-powered pick-up truck, was announced on April 24, 2025. The company expects to price it under $28,000.[10] The vehicle can be transformed from a truck into a 5-seater SUV through a kit that Slate will sell to customers.[11]

As a publicity stunt, Slate parked at least three prototype vehicles on the streets of Venice, Los Angeles, ahead of the official announcement.[12] The vehicles were wrapped with branding for fictitious companies, and resembled a pick-up truck, a "coupe-like" sports utility vehicle (SUV), and a boxier SUV that resembles a Land Rover Defender. The vehicles are non-functional design bucks; images of them were shared widely by journalists and Reddit contributors.[13]

Prior to its official announcement, the company had trademarked "Blank Slate" and "We Built It. You Make It."[14] The vehicle has been both called "anti-Tesla"[15][16][17] and "anti-Cybertruck";[18] the name "Slate" has been noted to be an anagram of "Tesla".[19][20]

External links