--- title: "Slate Auto Has Raised $700M for Its $20K Electric Truck. Is That Enough?" date: "2025-05-12" modified: "2025-05-12" authors: - name: "Byron Hurd" job_title: "Editor" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/byron-hurd" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/bezos-backed-slate-auto-has-a-700m-war-chest-is-that-enough" categories: - "Car Tech" - "Electric Vehicles" - "News" tags: - "Electric Vehicle" - "pickup" - "Slate" --- # Slate Auto Has Raised $700M for Its $20K Electric Truck. Is That Enough? ![slate electric truck]() *\Slate Automotive\* The worst-kept secret in the electric vehicle world is officially out. Last week, in what has so far been a rare disclosure of its finances, EV startup Slate not only revealed the extent of its backing, but the identities of its biggest financiers. And sure enough, the headliner is Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, by way of his management firm, Bezos Expeditions. Through a combination of Series A and Series B funding, *[Newsweek]()* reports, the company is sitting on $700 million. That's a fat chunk of change, to be sure, but car companies are stunningly expensive to launch. At one point, Lordstown Motors had hundreds of millions in backing and was valued at $5 billion. Today? [Not so much](). Bollinger started with $150 million in backing and has been [circling the drain for years](), having tossed out its plans to build consumer cars years ago—even after a buyout from Mullen Automotive. To find other EV startups with similar financial muscle, we need to move up to the big leagues. Rivian received a cash injection of similar magnitude in 2019, not long before interest from Amazon and Ford [swelled its coffers](). Just two years later, with inflation soaring and the EV speculation market popping off, Lucid managed to scare up nearly $2.5 billion in funding. But [the world]() has changed a lot [since then](). ![Rivian R1T California Dune Edition]() *Rivian* ![]() To the company's credit, it's the only EV startup with healthy funding and what appears to be a mandate to serve [the mass market,]() not [whales]() who have six figures to throw at [what amounts to an unfinished prototype](). And we have a hard time believing Slate will pull an about-face on this strategy, given that the company has no expensive alternative to pitch to early investors, and no [Cybertruck ]()or [Sapphire]() equivalent to siphon attention away from the basic offering. But as impressive as $700 million in early investment is, it's still nothing compared to the [staggering costs of operating a car company]()—especially given the rapid pace of current EV development. Perhaps the question isn't whether Slate has enough money to build its affordable truck, but whether people will [still be interested when it arrives](). *Got a tip? Send it in: tips@thedrive.com* ## Author Byron is an editor at The Drive with a keen eye for infrastructure, sales and regulatory stories. He brings a light, punchy style to all of his content, believing that there's plenty out there to be laughed at—himself included. Born and raised in Maryland but now based just a stone's throw from Detroit, Byron is an auto enthusiast and generalist who enjoys building and tinkering with things of all kinds, from cars, computers and digital cityscapes, to the new garage that will soon house his fleet (a CT4-V Blackwing, a JK Wrangler and an NA Miata). Inspired by an early love of rollercoasters, Byron quickly caught the high-performance driving itch. He's been tracking and auto-crossing his cars since 2007. In his downtime, Byron enjoys reading, playing city builders, and studying the history of the Motor City. ### Author social links [Bluesky]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()