Slate Auto drops ‘under $20,000’ pricing after Trump administration ends federal EV tax credit

Slate Auto, the electric vehicle startup backed by Jeff Bezos, has stopped promoting that its upcoming pickup truck will start “under $20,000” following passage of President Trump’s tax cut bill. The bill, which is expected to be signed into law by Trump on July 4, will cause the federal EV tax credit to end in September — a $7,500 incentive that Slate had counted on to help its all-electric pickup clear that mark.

When Slate came out of stealth mode in April, the startup heavily promoted that its all-electric pickup would start at “under $20,000” with the $7,500 federal EV tax credit. That language was still on Slate’s website as recently as yesterday according to the Web Archive.

The change is a potential blow to the young company’s attempt to make a radically affordable electric vehicle.

Slate didn’t provide a precise price for the EV at its launch event; and it has yet to say what the actual starting price of its vehicle will be, sans-credit. A Slate spokesperson declined to comment on the change.

The company won’t start building the truck until the end of 2026 at the earliest. Slate’s business is also built around making this vehicle highly customizable, which means it’s possible that few people will buy the base model to begin with.

The sub-$20,000 price had been a big attraction point for the brand new company’s product, and it was a major focus following its April launch event.

The auto industry has “driven prices to a place that most Americans simply can’t afford,” chief commercial officer Jeremy Snyder said during the event. “But we’re here to change that.”

“We are building the affordable vehicle that has long been promised but never been delivered,” CEO Chris Barman added at the time.