Slate Auto just crossed 150,000 reservations for its affordable electric truck, even as the broader EV truck market shows serious cracks. The Jeff Bezos-backed startup announced the milestone in a Q&A video with CEO Chris Barman, proving that new customer interest is still outpacing any order cancellations. The timing is significant: Ford just killed the F-150 Lightning, and competitors like Tesla's Cybertruck are struggling to move volume.
The electric truck market just got a little less crowded and a lot more interesting. Slate Auto, the Jeff Bezos-backed startup, announced it's crossed 150,000 refundable reservations for its low-cost EV, a milestone that arrives at a particularly telling moment in the industry. Just yesterday, Ford announced it's killing the F-150 Lightning, the first major battery-powered pickup truck to hit the U.S. market, because it simply wasn't making enough money.
The contrast is striking. While established automakers are backing away from electric trucks, Slate keeps stacking orders. CEO Chris Barman shared the reservation figure in a new Q&A video aimed at reservation holders, answering practical questions about features like rear-seat car seat anchors and the company's approach to self-driving (spoiler: there isn't one). The fact that people are still signing up matters more than the absolute number itself.
But here's where the story gets nuanced. Slate hit 100,000 reservations back in May, right after coming out of stealth. That means it took seven months to grow from 100K to 150K - a 50% bump that's measurable but not exactly explosive. The real signal is that reservations continue climbing faster than cancellations, which means the company is actually converting interest despite a brutal market for new EVs.
That growth rate needs context. The EV truck landscape has basically imploded over the past 18 months. Ford's F-150 Lightning never broke a few thousand sales per quarter despite having a recognized brand and dealer network behind it. Tesla's Cybertruck is still ramping production but consistently fails to meet delivery targets. General Motors' Silverado EV exists mostly in the shadows of the EV world. So Slate's continued momentum suggests the company has found something these bigger names missed.
Part of it's timing and design philosophy. The Lightning was essentially a Frankenstein effort, with Ford forcing EV technology into a platform originally built for gas engines. Slate's truck was engineered from the ground up as an EV, which matters for efficiency, cooling, space management, and economics. The company is also laser-focused on one thing: a sub-$25,000 price point that makes EVs actually accessible to regular truck buyers. That's the sweet spot everyone's been chasing but nobody's cracked yet.
