Key facts
- Kenda said an EV-specific tire will launch on the Blank Slate when the vehicle enters production in November 2026.
- Slate has previously said its first deliveries were expected in the fourth quarter of 2026, without naming a month.
- Slate is promising a $24,950 electric pickup with no direct rivals in the US auto industry.
- The truck has no radio, no music speakers and manual-crank windows, and a two-door, two-seat body.
- More than 180,000 people placed $50 reservations for the Slate, the company said in June.
- Slate has not disclosed how many shoppers have sent $300 to enter a preorder queue.
Slate's $25,000 electric truck is set to enter production in November 2026, according to a press release from tire supplier Kenda cited in a November 5 report. Kenda wrote that an EV-specific tire will launch on the Blank Slate "when the vehicle enters production in November 2026." The statement offers the clearest public timeline yet for Slate's production launch.
The startup has previously said its first deliveries were expected in the fourth quarter of 2026, without naming a month. In September, Business Insider reported that Slate had told some preorder customers they could receive their vehicles as soon as December. Slate has been offering ride-alongs to potential buyers across the US since August; customers who spoke to Business Insider said Slate employees made it clear that interior panels and finishes on those trucks were prototypes, not final production versions.
Late last month, Ars Technica reported that Slate's factory in Warsaw, Indiana, was still producing prototype models but would transition to production units "soon." Slate is promising a $24,950 electric pickup with no direct rivals in the US auto industry. It is equipped with no radio, no music speakers and manual-crank windows, in a two-door, two-seat small-truck body. Slate is also betting on customization, with a marketplace of hundreds of accessories including an SUV kit with a second-row bench seat, color wraps and interior accessories.
More than 180,000 people placed $50 reservations for the Slate, the automaker said in June. The company has not disclosed how many shoppers have sent $300 to enter a preorder queue. Benjamin Palazzo, a Slate follower and avid poster in the company's subreddits, told Business Insider he plans to wait until 2028 before buying one and expects the startup's earliest vehicles to be works in progress. "The first Slates are going to be the worst Slates in history, because it's going to get continually better," Palazzo said. "But I believe in the Slate mission. That's why I want to buy one."