Slate Auto

Image: Owen Grove / The Verge The first thing you notice about the Slate Truck is its size. It’s small, surprisingly so. In a country where trucks often come with their own zip code, Slate’s pickup is refreshingly puny, measuring 174.6 inches long, 70.6 inches wide, and 69.3 inches tall, with a curb weight of approximately 3,602 pounds (1,634kg). As a reference point, it’s nearly the same size as Marty McFly’s 1985 Toyota SR5 from Back to the Future.But inside, that diminutive feeling disappears, as I found myself with ample amounts of head- and legroom. As a relatively tallish guy (over 6 fee

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images At last month’s rapturously received Slate debut, it took an executive’s quip that “Slate” and “Tesla” use the same five letters to shift my brain into high gear. I’ve covered the EV world for 15-plus years, and I virtually never spend time on counterfactuals. There’s quite enough to cover in the real world.But … I’m of the opinion Tesla could, and should, have launched a small, simple, cheap compact pickup truck—in other words, what Slate debuted—rather than the pickup it did produce, the Cybertruck. That expensive and polarizing vehicle has been