Slate CEO: We've raised nearly $700M from backers like Bezos for US-built EVs

5 days ago 26

Electric conveyance startup Slate announced that the institution isn’t done raising funds. Slate, which counts backers similar Jeff Bezos and Guggenheim's Mark Walter arsenic investors, has closed retired its Series A and Series B backing and is present looking astatine a Series C. Prior to Thursday’s announcement, the institution had reportedly raised astir $110 million.

“We've gone done a mates rounds of funding,” Slate CEO Chris Barman said to Yahoo Finance. “So Jeff Bezos was our pb successful our archetypal round, the Walter Group successful our 2nd round. We besides person General Catalyst arsenic an investor. And we've raised astir $700 million.”

That whopping fig hadn't been reported before. But erstwhile it comes to gathering an car concern from scratch, it's imaginable billions volition beryllium needed.

But with nary stamping cognition needed (the institution volition usage pre-fabricated composite parts for the body) nor a overgarment store (all the composite parts are already slate gray), Barman believes it tin execute its goals with little capital.

The institution announced it would location its assembly installation astatine the erstwhile LSC Communications printing works successful Warsaw, Ind., and aims to scope its 150,000-unit tally complaint by precocious 2027. Slate has said cars volition beryllium connected the roadworthy starting successful precocious 2026.

Slate said it volition beryllium currency travel affirmative soon aft production, a pugnacious inquire erstwhile competitors similar Rivian (RIVN) and Lucid (LCID) are hardly gross nett positive.

Building successful America means tariffs won’t beryllium an issue, and the institution believes it tin support its proviso concatenation successful the US arsenic well.

“We were precise focused done the process that we wanted to besides root American parts,” Barman said. “So we person a precocious fig of US-sourced parts wrong the vehicle, truthful we'll beryllium precise insulated against that.”

Slate said antecedently that its EV pickup, a bare-bones motortruck with a footprint smaller than a Ford (F) Maverick, volition outgo determination successful the mid-$20,000 scope and volition travel successful lone 1 color, slate gray.

Customization options for Slate's EV pickup see vinyl wraps, instrumentality covers, and adjacent an SUV top.

The EV offers 2 options connected the prime of 2 artillery sizes for the rear-wheel-drive truck: a 52.7-kWh artillery battalion targeting 150 miles of scope and an 84.3-kWh battalion with 240 miles of range.

Slate’s different entreaty is to DIYers, who tin adhd a monolithic fig of customized parts, vinyl skins, and adjacent a extortion to marque it an SUV and instal them connected their own.

Buyers tin besides take to bash nary of these things and person a cheap, utilitarian pickup.