Jeff Bezos-backed Slate Auto has planted multiple concept versions of the EV on the streets of California. This is a marketing tactic that teases secret startup strategies for selling vehicles like “transformers,” people familiar with the company’s internal debate told TechCrunch.
According to TechCrunch’s invitation, this unconventional real-world bullying is just days before the April 24 launch event at Long Beach Airport.
Founded in 2022, the Michigan-based startup plans to maintain relative secrets until TechCrunch publishes a report revealing Bezos’ financial involvement, and encourages buyers to customize their vehicles to their liking while priced the EV for around $25,000. Its basic model is called the “blank slate” version, according to another person familiar with trademark applications and company planning. Slate also applied for a trademark with the phrase “We built it. You made it.”
Autopia’s David Tracy traveled to Venice, California over the weekend, where Slate parked a concept version of the truck, made to look like a two-door SUV used in fake businesses. Similarly, Reddit users posted a photo over the weekend of yet another version of the track, made to look like a hatchback that resembles Libian’s upcoming R3.
The Tracy, a vehicle we saw this weekend, looks like a two-door pickup truck discovered by Reddit users in Long Beach earlier this month, but with a hardcover on the bed, which adds to the shape of the SUV. The vehicle is covered in fake business wraps called “Rockabye Rides.” This includes a URL that leads to a website that counts down to an event on Slate later this week.
This creates three different silhouettes we’ve seen on slate trucks so far. And its adaptability is something the company personally promoted because it locked up well over $100 million, TechCrunch learns.
Slate’s leadership focuses on the “trans” metaphor, according to pitch-savvy people. The company carefully choreographed the meeting on the idea, according to others who are well-versed in how they went.
This included showing future investors the generic version of the truck, then leading them to another room while the team quickly customized the vehicle. The future investors are then returned to the first room just to find the trucks look completely different.
These efforts seemed convincing. Guggenheim Partner CEO (and owner of LA Dodgers) Mark Walter appears to have invested in the round and joined the Slate board of directors, TechCrunch reports.
A company spokesman did not respond to requests for comment.
These new photos provide a fairly clear view of the slate truck’s appearance and the potential level of customization. The interior remains a mystery and there is no public knowledge about the vehicle specifications.
The company gave explanations to many automotive journalists ahead of Thursday’s event, with Tracy writing that he is “under a strict NDA” for any details.
Still, Tracy writes that the slate truck is “not just as a car journalist, but it’s not just a new vehicle I’ve seen in my lifetime.”
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