I guess when you have the VERY deep pockets of Jeff Bezos and MLB Dodgers owner Mark Walker backing you there is a way to pay a higher upfront cost to make vehicles cheaper in the long run. It should be noted that the statement is that the vehicles will be gross margin positive, so there is some ability to do some careful math magic there.

The CEO, Peter Faricy, stated in his interview that

“It’s an ambitious goal,” Faricy told CNBC during an interview at the company’s new design studio outside of Los Angeles. “No other automotive company has been able to do that before. So it’s ambitious. It’s going to take a lot of work. Nothing’s guaranteed in life, but you have to have ambitious goals if you want to achieve big things. That’s the big goal we’re shooting for.”

It does seem, though, that Slate might be onto something, because the company has said its breakeven point was just over half of the 150k-unit production capacity it plans for at its Indiana plant. The company has raised more than $1.3 billion via three rounds of financing, so they are pretty well stocked in the cash area. Its first vehicles are due to be delivered to customers during the fourth quarter of this year, so they are moving from stealth to a product in about a year and a half, another impressive feat.

When asked about going public Faricy stated

“We’re going to constantly take a look at what our options are. Certainly going public will be one, 2027 is probably too soon, in my book. I think we’ll want to really make sure that we’re launching and scaling the business well.”

Slate really is trying something out of the box here to bring affordable EVs to the masses that we have not seen done at this scale. If you did not know, they are a modular car company, so the $25k truck is a two seater with crank windows, and through add-ons, you can create a 5 seater and/or add "modern" features like electric windows. The exterior of the vehicles also is not painted, and the company says they have engineered the trucks to be wrapped with vinyl film. At launch, Slate will have more than 100 color options available for under $500 and 175 different accessories, with 80% of these accessories also under $500.

Would this be a vehicle that you would get? I can see how those who like to work on vehicles would like the ability to have all these custom options that they can use, but that is also with gas vehicles, so does that carry over to EVs? 180k reservations have been received for this vehicle, and that required a refundable $50 deposit. Once production ramps up, orders require a $300 nonrefundable down payment, which will help the company tap more money.