Slate's New $24,000 EV Truck Has More Than Enough Payload For a Couple Motorcycles

For those unfamiliar, Slate is a Jeff Bezos-funded automotive company that’s been teasing a no-bullshit electric pickup truck for the past few months. Originally, the company promised to offer a vehicle that would start under $20,000. Wild in today's economy, and proven to be almost untrue. 

However, following a debut of the company’s production-ready pickup, that price is now, uh, slated to be $24,950. There will also be an SUV iteration, with a starting price of $29,950. But I’m not here to talk about price tags. Though it's definitely part of the equation.

When the Slate was first teased, and after I watched Jay Leno drive one around Los Angeles, I couldn’t help but wonder if this little electric pickup might be the perfect moto hauler.

Along with a price that has changed since it was first unveiled, so has the projected range, but this time for the better. Instead of the originally promised 150 miles, Slate is now claiming the little electric truck can go as far as 205 miles on its 65-kilowatt-hour battery pack, which they say produces 181-hp and 195 pound-feet of torque.

So, while the price went up, at least we’re getting a little something for that extra five grand – 55 miles, to be exact. And that matters, as I’m going to use myself as an example of how and why the Slate might make a great moto hauler. And why I might want one. Maybe.

Photo by: RideApart.com

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I live in the Phoenix Valley, a sprawling metropolitan area in central Arizona that includes eight cities spread out across some 2,000 square miles, with over 5.2 million residents. It’s crowded in the general sense, and yet easy to escape from. I own an old cargo van with hundreds of thousands of miles on the odometer. Its gas powered, shaped like a brick, and gets maybe 15 miles to the gallon on a good day. I’ve lived and camped and traveled in that van, so I won’t say anything bad about the old Ford, aside from the fact that it’s not very economical, especially nowadays.

I have a Joe Hauler on the back of the van. It’s a model intended to carry the burden of a 500-lb adventure motorcycle, so it’s kind of big and makes parking in the city a pain. But I can load my dirt bike on the back and be on the road in ten minutes, so, again, no complaints.

Photo by: Justin W. Coffey, WESTx1000

During the fall and winter months, I ride at an OHV area about 45 minutes from where I live, almost exactly 40 miles to the north, as the crow flies. To get there and back to my garage requires about a quarter of a tank of fuel in the old Ford. So, if it’s $100 to fill the tank (I’m being generous), then my trips to the trailhead and home cost me roughly $25 each time. Multiply that by the two or three days a week I try and ride, and well, it adds up.

Along with pricing, Slate also announced its payload and towing capacity, which are the numbers, along with the range, that I am most interested in. According to the crew at The Drive, the Slate can “now haul 2,000 pounds behind the pickup, or put 1,550 pounds in the bed.” Those are not rookie numbers, especially for such a small platform. But small is relative, just ask your doctor.

The Slate pickup has a 60-inch bed with the tailgate closed, and 81.6 inches of space, front to back, with the tailgate down. A five-foot bed is small, relatively speaking, but with almost seven-feet available when the tailgate is down, that means the little electric truck should be able to easily haul a couple of motorcycles, especially dirt bikes.

Photo by: RideApart.com

My Beta 300 RR, for example, is 85.5 inches long, tip to tail, which means it would hang, ever so slightly, over the edge of the tailgate, but still fit. You could haul something heavier, too, although I don’t recommend trying to load bagger into the back. But could the Slate transport your sport bike to the track? Absolutely.

What’s more, according to the crew at Jalopnik, the diagonal space available in the bed of the Slate pickup is 98.35 inches. If that’s the case, my Italian two-stroke should be able to fit sideways in the bed with the tailgate closed. I’ll believe it when I see it, but I’m hopeful.

With 205 miles of range and a 1,550-lb payload rating, the Slate checks a lot of boxes. Boxes left vacant when small pickups became mid-sized pickups which are essentially the full-sized pickups of yesteryear. A Ford Ranger used to be small, so too were the Toyota SR5 trucks my friends had in high school. But that’s not the case these days. Ford did introduce the Maverick a few years back, and I applaud the effort, but a decently equipped model will set you back $32,490, minimum, and you’re still paying a premium at the gas pump.

Photo by: RideApart.com

Whether you like, love or loathe electric vehicles doesn’t really matter when you’re shopping for practicality. And if the Slate is anything, it’s practical. The base model doesn’t even come with a stereo or power windows.

An onboard 11-kW charger is said to bring the battery from 20 to 80% in 17 hours on a Level 1 charger, and in just four hours on a Level 2 charger. There’s also a North American Charging Standard (NACS) port, which means the Slate can charge at Tesla Supercharger stations. All of that makes the little electric truck more, well, practical.

So, is the Slate truck the perfect bike hauler for the budget-minded moto enthusiast? No, not necessarily. You can find an old Ford Ranger for less than $10,000. But it will require maintenance and upkeep and probably need new belts and a water pump (ask me how I know), and it's still going to sting when you swipe your card at Chevron.

What the Slate offers is an alternative. One that might work perfectly for someone like me. With room to load two bikes into the back, along with enough range on one charge to get me to the trailhead and home at least two times, this little electric truck might be the perfect temperature of porridge for my Goldilocks. 

The $24,950 price tag isn't bad, all things considered. But you're not getting much with the base model - just crank windows, cloth seats, and a slate grey exterior. I suppose that's the point, though. For someone like me, a no-frills pickup that can haul my moto to the trailhead, be plugged in overnight (or filled with electrons at a Supercharger), can handle daily truck duties and doesn't ask much in return... Well, that sounds pretty good.

But what do you think? Is this an old school moto hauler turned electric, or is the asking price too much for something a roached Ford Ranger could accomplish?

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