{"id":664360,"date":"2025-04-22T09:05:14","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T06:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/bezos-backed-startup-designed-an-ev-that-can-change-like-a-transformer\/"},"modified":"2025-04-22T09:05:14","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T06:05:14","slug":"bezos-backed-startup-designed-an-ev-that-can-change-like-a-transformer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/bezos-backed-startup-designed-an-ev-that-can-change-like-a-transformer\/","title":{"rendered":"Bezos-backed startup designed an EV that can change like a ‘Transformer’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jeff Bezos-backed Slate Auto has planted multiple concept versions of its EV on the streets of California. It\u2019s a marketing tactic that teases the secretive startup\u2019s strategy to sell a \u201cTransformer\u201d-like vehicle, people familiar with the company\u2019s internal discussions told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n

This unconventional real-world tease comes days before Slate\u2019s April 24 launch event at Long Beach Airport, according to an invite viewed by TechCrunch.<\/p>\n

The Michigan-based startup, founded in 2022, has operated in relative secrecy until TechCrunch published a report revealing Bezos\u2019 financial involvement, as well as its plan to price its EV at around $25,000 while encouraging buyers to customize the vehicle to their liking. That base model is referred to as the \u201cBlank Slate\u201d version, according to a trademark application<\/a> and another person familiar with the company\u2019s plans. Slate has also filed for a trademark<\/a> for the phrase: \u201cWe Built It. You Make It.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Autopian\u2019s David Tracy traveled<\/a> to Venice, California over the weekend where Slate parked a concept version of the truck made to look like a two-door SUV used by a fake business. Similarly, Reddit<\/a> users posted pictures over the weekend of yet another<\/em> version of the truck<\/a> made to look like a hatchback that almost resembles Rivian\u2019s forthcoming R3.<\/p>\n

The vehicle Tracy saw up close this past weekend looks just like the two-door pickup truck spotted by a Reddit user earlier this month in Long Beach, but with a hard cover over the bed that gives it more of an SUV shape. The vehicle is covered in a wrap for a fake business called \u201cRockabye Rides,\u201d which includes a URL that leads to a website that is counting down<\/a> to Slate\u2019s event later this week.<\/p>\n

That makes three different silhouettes we\u2019ve seen of Slate\u2019s truck so far \u2014 and that adaptability is something the company has privately touted as it locked down well over $100 million in funding, TechCrunch has learned. <\/p>\n

Slate\u2019s leadership focused heavily on the \u201cTransformer\u201d metaphor as it wooed investors to fill out its Series<\/a> B funding round last year, according to a person familiar with the pitches. The company carefully choreographed the meetings around the idea, according to another person familiar with how they went.<\/p>\n

This involved showing prospective investors a generic version of the truck, and then leading them to another room while a team quickly customized the vehicle. Then the prospective investors would be brought back to the first room only to find the truck looking completely different. <\/p>\n

Those efforts app<\/a>ear to have been convincing. Guggenheim Partners CEO (and controlling owner of the LA Dodgers) Mark Walter seemingly invested in the round and joined Slate\u2019s board, TechCrunch has reported.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the company didn\u2019t respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

These new photos give a pretty clear view of the exterior of Slate\u2019s truck, and the potential level of customization. The interior remains a mystery, and there is no public knowledge about the vehicle\u2019s specs. <\/p>\n

The company has briefed a number of automotive journalists ahead of Thursday\u2019s event, and Tracy wrote that he\u2019s \u201cunder a strict NDA\u201d on any of the specifics.<\/p>\n

Even still, Tracy wrote that the Slate truck \u201cis unlike any new vehicle I\u2019ve ever seen not just in my decade as a car journalist, but in my entire lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our Technology<\/a><\/span> category.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jeff Bezos-backed Slate Auto has planted multiple concept versions of its EV on the streets of California. It\u2019s a marketing tactic that teases the secretive startup\u2019s strategy to sell a \u201cTransformer\u201d-like vehicle, people familiar with the company\u2019s internal discussions told TechCrunch. This unconventional real-world tease comes days before Slate\u2019s April 24 launch event at Long…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":664361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/slate-5-scaled-e1745210541836.jpg?resize=1200,727","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[78772,82313,61594,71631,155515,70917,73295],"class_list":["post-664360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-electric-vehicles","tag-evs","tag-exclusive","tag-jeff-bezos","tag-slate-auto","tag-startups","tag-transportation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=664360"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664360\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/664361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=664360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=664360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=664360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}