Slate wants to sell a truck you are allowed to fix yourself, and JerryRigEverything's first drive is built around testing that idea. The video reports a starting price just under $25,000, roughly half of what it calls the current average new car price of about $50,000. Under the skin sits a single 65 kWh battery pack rated at 205 miles, with one battery option, rear wheel drive, and a claimed 0 to 60 mph time of around 8 seconds. Charging runs through a NACS port, the same connector used by Tesla's Supercharger network. There is no touchscreen from the factory and the windows crank by hand. What makes the truck unusual is not the powertrain but the body: unpainted composite panels held on with exposed fasteners, designed to come off with a screwdriver. Fewer parts, the host argues, means fewer things to break.
What is new here is less the truck than the ownership model. Slate is betting that buyers will trade features for a price that undercuts nearly everything else with four wheels and a battery. Most vehicles anywhere near this figure are small hatchbacks, not trucks, which is part of why it stands out. The host makes the used-car case directly: he says EVs tend to lose about 40 percent of their value in the first three years, yet electric motors and batteries can last well past 200,000 miles, so a three-year-old Slate could sell cheaply while still having most of its life ahead. That is his projection, not a promise. Worth adding on the buyer side is a risk the video does not dwell on. Cheap self-repair and strong resale both depend on the company staying in business and keeping parts flowing, something plenty of EV startups have struggled to do. The low sticker is real. The long-term math rests on Slate surviving.
Most of the walkthrough is about serviceability. The video reports the front grille and daytime running light covers are held on with T20 screws, similar to what is used inside some phones, while the outer body panels use exposed T30 fasteners. Replacement grille plates run about $60 and light covers about $50 for the pair, according to the host, and Slate actively supports owners 3D printing their own. The panels are described as gray, glass filled polypropylene, so there is no paint to match; color instead comes from wraps the video prices at around $500 each. The host also notes owners can do warranty repairs themselves without voiding the warranty. Suspension is a strut up front and a spring in the rear, with a lift kit that adds roughly two inches to the stock 7.8 inch ground clearance. A roughly $5,000 package adds rear bench seating and a roll bar with side airbags, and the zip-off seat covers can be swapped in about five minutes. Other options shown include an $800 rooftop light bar, a $550 tire carrier, and a $2,300 solar bed cover. Towing tops out at 2,000 pounds, with 1,550 pounds of bed payload, and the front trunk holds two carry-on suitcases plus the coolant, wiper, and brake fluid.
Bottom line: The Slate is the rare EV that treats the owner as a mechanic instead of a subscriber, and that alone makes it worth watching. If you want a cheap, simple work vehicle and you are handy with a screwdriver, nothing else at this price offers as much control. The catch is everything you give up: 205 miles, no screen, modest towing, and a brand with no track record. Buy it for what it is, a bare-bones tool that rewards people who like fixing their own things, not as a do-everything truck in disguise.
Commentary on a third-party video. Figures and claims are as presented in the source and have not been independently verified. Spotted an error? Tell us and we will correct it.