a recent business called Slate Auto came out of stealth and shocked the car industry In April 2025. Not only was this startup focused on making an ultra-cheap, customizable electric pickup truck with funding from Jeff Bezos, but it had also been operating in secret for three years in Troy, Michigan — the backyard of major automakers like Ford and General Motors.

TechCrunch was first to the story, reporting in early April about the company’s existence, its involvement with the Amazon founder, and its curious and unique business model. The weeks between our report and Slate’s official coming out party in late April provided a whirlwind of news, with prototypes of the startup’s truck popping up around California.

Slate is an aberration in the U.S. EV sector, where bankruptcies, failed product launches, and pivots have become commonplace. And while its current backers, executive lineup, first product, and business model provide a compelling path forward, the road is still riddled with potential hurdles as it pushes toward production in late 2026. 

Here’s a timeline that charts out everything you need to know about Slate Auto, from its origin story and backers to its product, business model, and production plans.

Inside the EV startup secretly backed by Jeff Bezos

April 8 – After a year-long investigation, TechCrunch published a story revealing that a secretive EV startup called Slate Auto had been operating for three years with the financial backing of Jeff Bezos and LA Dodgers owner Mark Walter. 

Unlike other EV startups, Slate had been working on developing an extremely low-cost electric pickup truck that would start at around $25,000. This truck would be deeply customizable, leveraging the experience of many former employees from Harley-Davidson and Chrysler, two companies that have extensive accessories and aftermarket parts businesses.

Slate Auto’s pickup truck spotted in the wild

April 10 – One day later, a photo of a nondescript electric truck started circulating on the r/whatisthiscar subreddit, with Redditors speculating it could be Slate’s mystery EV. 

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Slate Auto drops ‘under $20,000’ pricing after Trump administration ends federal EV tax credit This also touches on aspects of user interface.

July 3 – The Trump administration pushed through a massive tax-cut bill that, among many other actions, set a September end-date for the $7,500 federal EV tax credit. That means Slate’s truck will no longer be able to lean on that credit to reach the “under $20,000” starting price the startup was touting. As such, Slate pulled that language from its website before the bill was even signed into law.

Why this LA-based VC firm was an early investor in Slate Auto

July 8 – Slate’s 2023 funding round included at least 16 investors — one of them being Bezos. While most of those investors have still not been identified, Los Angeles-based Slauson & Co. spoke to TechCrunch about why it threw in with the EV startup in that initial funding round, as well as Slate’s Series B.

Slate Auto appears on the TechCrunch Disrupt main stage

October 30 – Slate Auto CEO Chris Barman sat down for an interview on the main stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, where she talked about Jeff Bezos’ involvement, the challenge of building an automaker from scratch, and how the business plans to construct a marketplace for customization.  

Slate passes 150,000 reservations

December 16 – Despite EV growth cooling off in the U.S., Slate Auto crosses 150,000 refundable reservations for its truck and SUV, showing there is still serious interest in the vehicle despite the depletion of the federal tax credit. And with fewer EVs set to come to the U.S., It seems the startup will have very little competition at the low end of the market. 

2026 

A surprise CEO swap

 March 9 – Slate pulls a surprise and swaps in a latest CEO: former Amazon Marketplace VP Peter Faricy. Former CEO (and Slate’s first hire) Chris Barman is staying with the organization though, shifting over to a “President of Vehicles” role. Slate tapped Faricy to get the startup ready for its end-of-year commercial launch – starting with converting the reservation list into as many full orders as possible. 

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