The Slate Truck is officially the most affordable truck in America

It’s official: Slate Auto’s premiere vehicle will cost a mere $24,950. We reported on this just last week when a curious busybody leaked it after a nose around Slate’s preorder website code, discovering the price in a line of text meant to go live, er, now, we suppose.

While decidedly more than the sub-$20k entry point boasted during Slate Auto’s debut, it’s still a price competitive against similar vehicles, such as they are. In its bite-sized pickup configuration, the Slate Truck’s closest comparison will be Ford’s Maverick.

A bare-bones XLT starts at $26,771, and is powered by a 2.5-liter hybrid power unit. Comparing it to other budget-friendly EVs, the Slate skirts the Nissan Leaf’s $29,990 asking price as well as the $27,600 buy-in for the Chevrolet Bolt.

The story changes slightly when it comes to kitting the Slate out to be a utility vehicle. If you’re looking to have a back seat and some sort of roof over that, the price for a Slate SUV is $29,950.

What does one get for this price? By design, not a whole lot. Slate’s whole mantra is about building an affordable truck that’s easy to use by everyone, and that means a scant amount of gizmos. Think of it as the anti-Benz in that regard.

From this, customers can personalize their Slate as they see fit with over 175 different accessories that include different lighting configurations, roof racks, stereos and so on. A big deal with Slate is that it will have your vehicle professionally wrapped in a handful of hours in any color you want, or with custom graphics.

The platform is a single-motor rear-wheel drive EV that spins up 135kW of power or roughly 181hp, along with 264nm or 194-ish lb ft of torque. A 65 kWh battery (with 63 kWh of usable energy) powers it all, providing up to 205 miles of range, according to Slate. All told, this should get you up to speed from 0 to 60 in a modest eight-seconds flat, topping out at just 90mph.

Slate quotes half an hour to charge from 20-80 per cent on a DC fast charger. It’ll take four hours on a level two charger and one Lord of the Rings Extended Edition box set when plugged into a standard level one outlet.

It comes with a 60.5in-long bed for haulage behind the front row, with the SUV using some of that space for a second set of seats. In this config, the SUV has 34 cu ft of space available, expanding to 58.4 with the second row folded.

Speaking of hauling, the Slate Truck can manage a payload of 1,550lbs and has a max towing capacity of 2,000lbs. As an SUV, the numbers are slightly smaller, at 1,263lb and 1,824 respectively.

Whatever config you go for, prepare for the cabin to be fairly... minimal. The touchscreens we’ve become accustomed to/frustrated with won’t be included here, though different mounts will let customers bring their own, allowing for in-car navigation and audio functionality.

It’s basic, but not dumb. There are a number of safety features baked in such as forward collision warnings, pedestrian recognition and a backup camera, along with normal stuff like ESC and traction control.

Pre-orders for the direct-to-consumer Slate are open now - you just need to put down $300 to hold your spot. Anyone who previously reserved one for $50 when it was announced will need to chuck in an additional $250 for their order because math. Deliveries are expected to happen later this year.