Ford’s $30K Electric Pickup Could Crush Jeff Bezos-Backed Rival originally appeared on Autoblog.
With a targeted price tag of just $30,000, the new battery-electric pickup Ford Motor Co. announced this week promises good news for buyers looking for an all-electric truck that won’t break the bank. Costing barely half as much as the typical EV sold in the U.S. this year, Ford is betting it will position the automaker as one of the leaders in the EV market.
That could be bad news for another brand focused solely on the affordable EV segment, the Jeff Bezos-backed Slate Auto, which in April revealed its own electric pickup it currently expects to start delivering next year at a starting price of $27,000.
While Slate would appear to have an advantage when it comes to cost, Ford’s “Universal EV” has lots going for it, with Sam Abuelsamid, chief analyst at Telemetry Research, declaring “Slate is cooked.”
Wanted: an Affordable EV
After surging eightfold between 2019 and 2023, EV sales have since lost much of their momentum, market share sliding to just 8.6% at the end of the first half of 2025, according to Cox Automotive data.
Part of the problem is that early adopters have largely already gotten the vehicles they want. Further growth depends upon targeting more mainstream buyers. That isn’t easy, however, when the average transaction price for an EV was $55,689 in July, according to Kelley Blue Book. For all new vehicles sold in the U.S. last month, the average, or ATP, was $48,401. Complicating matters: the $7,500 federal tax credit many EV customers depended on will go away at the end of the September due to the federal budget bill enacted last month.
To kickstart the market, analysts widely agree, means bringing out more new EVs priced in the low $30,000 range, and even below that figure.
Universal EV
Ford says it’s on track to get there thanks to the secret “skunkworks” program it set up in Long Beach, California three years ago. A small product development team came up with what they’re calling the “Universal EV.” Echoing what happened when founder Henry Ford switched on his first moving assembly line in 1913, Ford is setting up a completely new manufacturing process at a plant in Louisville, Kentucky. The ultimate goal is to produce an extended family of low-price battery-electric vehicles. In 2027 that will begin with a 4-door pickup with a “targeted price,” said Ford, of $30,000. Details have yet to be released but Kumar Galhotra, Ford’s Chief Operating Officer, made it clear the truck won’t be just an econobox. “We do not believe that you need to strip out features, functionality, screens or even seats to make a vehicle affordable. We will achieve affordability by radically simplifying parts and process.”
Slate Has Its Own Plan
Ford is by no means the only automaker feverishly working to shave EV prices. General Motors is readying an all-new version of the Chevrolet Bolt, its first long-range all-electric model set to debut this year. Kia has the EV4 coming, Nissan is finishing work on the next-generation Leaf and Tesla keeps promising its own entry model
Then there’s Slate Auto, based in the Detroit suburb of Troy. “We are building the affordable vehicle that has long been promised but never delivered,” CEO Chris Barman said in April as she pulled the cover off an all-electric 2-door pickup.
As with its more established rival, the Slate team poured over every aspect of automotive design, engineering and manufacturing. The truck’s body will be made of unpainted gray polypropylene, rather than the normal steel or aluminum, for one thing. Unlike Ford’s electric truck, meanwhile, the Slate model will be the ultimate example of stripping things down to their bare essentials. There’ll be no radio, for example, and you’ll have to supply the smartphone or tablet if you want an infotainment system. Even the windows will be hand-cranked.
Who Has the Edge?
“I like simplifying things and making a lot of things optional for customers,” said analyst Abuelsamid, “But they’ve gone too far.”
He believes Slate yet may find some buyers looking for hyper-customization – with scores of aftermarket options available, including a cut to convert the pickup into a 2-door SUV. But Abuelsamid and other analysts Autoblog spoke to think most potential buyers will opt for the better-equipped, and only slightly more expensive Ford truck. Just the fact that it has two more doors should be a big plus at a time when 2-door products have all but vanished from the U.S. market.
“That does make Slate a much more difficult proposition,” added Stephanie Brinley, lead auto analyst with S&P Global Mobility.
There Could be Surprises
While Ford may seem better positioned, industry-watchers aren’t ready to count Slate out. For one thing, it is expected to make it to market as much as a year ahead of Ford. And the start-up does have the backing of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and other mega-investors who’ve so far filled the company’s coffers to the tune of around $700 million, according to federal financial documentation.
But one also has to take the promises made by both companies with a healthy dose of skepticism, cautioned Brinley. “How many times have we seen automakers set a price target but then end up coming in at $2,000, $3,000, even $5,000 more.” And it remains to be seen, she added, whether either company will meet its planned production date. That’s a common problem across the auto industry and Tesla has shown that this is particularly problematic for start-ups.
Ford, for its part, is confident it can deliver, and then gain a real leg up on its competitors in the bid to drive down EV prices. The number two U.S. manufacturer is particularly hopeful the Universal EV project will allow it to challenge the domestic Chinese automakers gaining so much traction around the world. Slate isn’t ready to concede defeat. Far from it, the start-up automaker claiming to have so far recorded over 100,000 advance reservations for its truck. But there seems little doubt Ford has now changed the rules of the game in the emerging market for truly affordable EVs.
Ford’s $30K Electric Pickup Could Crush Jeff Bezos-Backed Rival first appeared on Autoblog on Aug 16, 2025
This story was originally reported by Autoblog on Aug 16, 2025, where it first appeared.
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