Shortly after I showed up at a Los Angeles studio space to take a sneak peek of Slate’s debut vehicle last week, the startup’s reps pulled a black sheet off of a charming, two-seat pickup truck. I thought it was refreshingly small and liked its clean, boxy look. And the claimed price tag of under $20,000 after federal incentives is hard to argue with, especially for an electric vehicle.
But the most compelling part about Slate’s first model is that by the time I left the event, it had transformed into something entirely different: a five-passenger SUV. How? Let me explain.
Photo by: Slate
This American EV company broke cover on Thursday with a focus on two things that it argues are missing from the car market: affordability and customizability. Its truck will arrive in late 2026 in just about as bare-bones a form as you can imagine, sporting crank windows, no radio and steel wheels. That helps with the former. To achieve the latter, Slate says it will offer a dazzling array of interesting upgrades for owners to pick and choose from.
That laundry list of accessories includes kits that turn one’s pickup into an SUV. Pretty wild stuff.
How Does Slate’s SUV Kit Impact Range?
Before I get into how the kit works and how it looks, allow me to flag one unexpected benefit of installing one. Eric Keipper, Slate’s head of engineering, told InsideEVs you’ll actually get a bit of extra range. And you may want every mile you can get, since the Slate’s standard battery pack delivers a manufacturer-projected range of only 150 miles. The optional bigger battery is rated for 240 miles.
“The aerodynamics effect that you get from the SUV actually outweighs, so to speak, the weight that you add,” he said.
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Source: Slate
In other words, the SUV’s seats, structure and roof make it heavier, increasing energy consumption. But its streamlined shape also makes it slice through the air more efficiently. At the end of the day, you can expect a “small percentage” more driving range in the SUV, Keipper said.
How Slate’s SUV Kit Works
Back to the details of Slate’s SUV kit. There are actually two of them. One is more boxy and bears a resemblance to a miniature Land Rover Defender (especially if you also slap on a spare tire holder). The other follows more of a slanted, fastback silhouette. With either kit, you can skip installing the roof entirely to wind up with an open-top SUV.
Slate says owners can DIY install the kit in just a few hours. The company is planning a content library called Slate University that will walk owners through accessory installs step-by-step. Alternatively, buyers can spring for a professional installation through a “service partner.”
The kit arrives flat-packed and includes a roll cage that has the airbags built right in. The extra seats bolt into a structure below the bed. A roof encloses everything. The partition between the cab and the bed gets taken out. And the truck’s rear glass becomes the SUV’s back window. I watched a team of Slate employees do this in around an hour.
Experiencing Slate’s SUV
What I saw was a design prototype, so there were some fitment issues here and there. But as far as I could tell, the SUV kit integrates into the design pretty seamlessly. It doesn’t look like a truck with a camper shell dropped on top.
Photo by: Tim Levin/InsideEVs
What’s it like inside? I have a few thoughts.
You have to scramble into the back row because, of course, even the SUV has just two doors. I didn’t find much legroom back there. And the low seats left me sitting in more of a squat than I’d like. But then again, I’m 6 feet 1 inch tall, and this is quite a compact vehicle overall. It should be just fine for kids, which is how it’ll probably be used by most people anyway.
I did have plenty of headroom though, thanks to the SUV’s boxy shape. So maybe Slate still has time to raise the seats a couple of inches before it locks in this design.
Photo by: Tim Levin/InsideEVs
The cargo area gains a roof but sacrifices some utility in a way that I didn’t expect. The SUV kit’s roll cage bolts down to either side of the truck’s bed, right next to the wheel wells. So you lose a good bit of width back there. And all that hardware turns the cargo area into a somewhat awkward shape.
You’re probably screaming at your phone right now: “But how much does it cost?!” I’m right there with you, buddy. Slate isn’t talking about the price of any of its accessories yet. But that number will determine whether Slate’s magically transforming SUV is worth buying—or just a neat party trick.
Got a tip about the EV world? Contact the author: Tim.Levin@InsideEVs.com
