Slate Auto’s electric pickup is no longer ‘under $20,000’ — thanks, Donald

The old Under $20,000" banner has been replaced with Mid Twenties." | Image: Slate Auto

Slate Auto's American-made electric pickup -the one with no paint, no stereo, and no touchscreen- is no longer priced under $20,000." The increase is a result of Trump's Big, beautiful bill," which willend the federal EV tax creditson September 30th when signed into law later today.

That sub-$20,000 price for theIndiana-built pickup was a big selling point for the EV startup backed by Jeff Bezos, and was only possible after applying the $7,500 tax credit to the retail price. The price promotion was scrubbed from the Slate Auto site as recently as yesterday,according toTechCrunch. The website now shows an expected price of mid-twenties."

Slate's under $20,000 price tag for a vehicle it won't start delivering until late 2026 was always accompanied by an asterisk, with fine print highlighting federal incentives that were subject to change." And change was certainly expected: Trump campaigned heavily on the promise to end President Biden's fictitious EV mandate," because electric cars are for socialists in MAGA world.

Trump's embrace of oil and gas, while simultaneously dismantling incentives meant to spur the adoption of EVs and clean energies, is a gift to Chinese makers of electric cars, solar panels, and batteries. The US is now on course to own the past whileChina is firmly positioned to dominate the future.