Is Slate Auto’s new electric truck the EV Americans need?
Is Slate Auto’s new electric truck the EV Americans need?
Slate Auto 的新款电动皮卡是美国人真正需要的电动汽车吗？
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY EVs account for under 10% of total new-vehicle sales in the US, and the numbers are declining. From a climate perspective, that’s pretty dismal, especially because the transportation sector is the single biggest source of greenhouse-gas emissions in the country. One thing that could help turn that around? Slate Auto’s new truck—a vehicle that seems to buck every convention about selling cars in the fully loaded, range-obsessed US market.
执行摘要 电动汽车（EV）在美国新车总销量中的占比不足 10%，且这一数字还在下降。从气候角度来看，这相当令人沮丧，尤其是考虑到交通运输业是美国温室气体排放的最大单一来源。有什么办法能扭转这一局面吗？Slate Auto 的新款皮卡或许是一个答案——这款车似乎打破了美国市场在配置和续航里程方面的一切传统观念。
The company is going all in on simplicity, to the point of austerity. The Slate is a tiny, two-door pickup that’s shorter than a Honda Civic. Much of the media coverage has obsessed over the fact that the base model’s windows use hand cranks, a feature straight out of the 20th century. Slate is also breaking away from other EV manufacturers’ efforts to compete with gas-powered vehicles on range. The truck sports a small lithium iron phosphate battery, ringing in at 65 kilowatt-hours, and its quoted top range is just 205 miles. For comparison, the most basic Tesla Model 3 can go over 320 miles on a charge.
该公司全力追求极简主义，甚至达到了“苦行”的程度。Slate 是一款比本田思域还要短小的双门皮卡。许多媒体报道都纠结于其基础款车型仍使用手摇车窗这一事实，这简直是 20 世纪的产物。Slate 也在摆脱其他电动汽车制造商在续航里程上与燃油车竞争的思路。这款皮卡配备了一块 65 千瓦时的小型磷酸铁锂电池，标称最高续航里程仅为 205 英里（约 330 公里）。相比之下，最基础款的特斯拉 Model 3 单次充电续航可超过 320 英里。
By accepting a shorter range and forgoing the frills that Americans have come to expect in vehicles, Slate is able to offer the base model of its truck for less than $25,000. Some customers will choose to upgrade their truck with optional add-ons, like a Bluetooth stereo system, vinyl wraps, or even power windows. But the price will still likely come in well below the roughly $50,000 average for a new vehicle in the US.
通过接受较短的续航里程并放弃美国消费者习以为常的各种花哨配置，Slate 得以将其基础款皮卡的售价控制在 2.5 万美元以下。一些客户可能会选择升级选配，例如蓝牙音响系统、乙烯基车身贴膜，甚至是电动车窗。但即便如此，其价格仍很可能远低于美国新车约 5 万美元的平均水平。
It might seem an odd choice to go so small and simple in a market that’s increasingly sizing up—but the status quo hasn’t exactly been working for EV makers. A few years back, the hero for US automotive electrification was supposed to be the Ford F-150 Lightning. Announced in 2021, it was an electric version of the country’s best-selling vehicle. But Ford discontinued the truck in December 2025, just four years after its introduction. It’s not entirely the Lightning’s fault: The second Trump administration slashed tax credits and other support designed to boost EVs. The Lightning was also plagued by price increases. The base model cost roughly $40,000 when shipments started in 2022; during its final year, prices topped $54,000.
在一个车型日益大型化的市场中，选择如此小巧简约的设计似乎有些奇怪，但现状证明，现有的模式对电动汽车制造商来说并不奏效。几年前，美国汽车电动化的“英雄”本应是福特 F-150 Lightning。这款车于 2021 年发布，是美国最畅销车型的电动版本。但福特在 2025 年 12 月（即推出仅四年后）就停产了该车型。这并不完全是 Lightning 的错：特朗普政府第二任期削减了旨在促进电动汽车发展的税收抵免和其他支持政策。Lightning 还深受涨价困扰：2022 年开始交付时，基础款售价约为 4 万美元；而在其最后一年，价格已超过 5.4 万美元。
One factor behind the increase was its massive battery; to reach an almost 300-mile range, the truck needed a battery with a capacity roughly twice that of Slate’s truck. That obsession with range is largely unwarranted. While Americans have historically chased distance, the average driver puts under 35 miles a day on the odometer, and nearly 90% of trips in a personal vehicle are 20 miles or less. Surveys of EV drivers show a similar trend: One recent study found that people tend to use less than 20% of their EV’s range on a typical day.
导致涨价的一个因素是其巨大的电池；为了达到近 300 英里的续航，该车需要的电池容量大约是 Slate 皮卡的两倍。这种对续航里程的执念在很大程度上是不必要的。虽然美国人历来追求长距离行驶，但普通驾驶员每天的行驶里程不到 35 英里，且近 90% 的个人车辆出行距离在 20 英里或以下。针对电动汽车驾驶员的调查显示了类似的趋势：最近的一项研究发现，人们在日常生活中通常只使用电动汽车续航里程的 20% 不到。
The notion that drivers need far less range than they think they do might sound a lot more persuasive these days—even for Americans who tend to buy cars for their longest road trip instead of their everyday errands. Roughly half the country is struggling to pay for basic necessities such as gas and groceries, and 95% of Americans believe we’re in an affordability crisis, according to a recent Harris poll. An inexpensive vehicle that allows you to skip the gas station sounds like an attractive prospect.
“驾驶员需要的续航里程远比他们想象的要少”这一观点在今天听起来可能更具说服力——即使是对那些倾向于为了最长途的旅行而非日常通勤去买车的美国人来说也是如此。根据哈里斯民调公司最近的一项调查，美国约有一半的人在支付汽油和食品杂货等基本生活必需品方面感到吃力，95% 的美国人认为我们正处于负担能力危机之中。一辆既便宜又能让你告别加油站的汽车，听起来是一个很有吸引力的选择。
Affordable EVs have already found willing buyers in other parts of the world—even with reduced range. China currently has over 40 million EVs and plug-in hybrids on the roads, and roughly half of new vehicles sold are electric. On average, new EVs sold in China in 2025 had a range of just 247 miles. For the US over the same period, the average was 329 miles. (Europe falls between the two, at 281 miles.)
经济实惠的电动汽车在世界其他地区已经找到了愿意买单的消费者，即使它们的续航里程有所缩减。中国目前有超过 4000 万辆电动汽车和插电式混合动力汽车在路上行驶，新车销量中约有一半是电动汽车。2025 年中国销售的新型电动汽车平均续航里程仅为 247 英里。同期美国的平均续航里程为 329 英里。（欧洲介于两者之间，为 281 英里。）
Slate is set to start delivering on preorders in late 2026. Its factory will have a capacity of 100,000 vehicles in the first year and 150,000 soon after. Thousands of customers have already put in preorders, according to the company. Some people obviously believe in the truck’s prospects: Investors, including Jeff Bezos, have put nearly $1.4 billion into the company over three major funding rounds. Ford is jumping (back) into this space soon too. The automaker is working on its own small electric truck, which is expected to debut in 2027 at a retail price of around $30,000.
Slate 计划于 2026 年底开始交付预订单。其工厂第一年的产能将达到 10 万辆，随后很快将提升至 15 万辆。据该公司称，已有数千名客户下了预订单。显然，有些人看好这款皮卡的前景：包括杰夫·贝索斯在内的投资者已在三轮主要融资中向该公司投入了近 14 亿美元。福特也很快将（重新）进入这一领域。这家汽车制造商正在研发自己的小型电动皮卡，预计将于 2027 年首次亮相，零售价约为 3 万美元。
The key question that will determine Slate’s success or failure is whether drivers can get on board with a small, short-range vehicle for the sake of its price tag. At this moment, I’d bet the answer is yes.
决定 Slate 成败的关键问题在于，驾驶员是否愿意为了价格而接受一辆小型、短续航的汽车。此刻，我敢打赌答案是肯定的。