Bezos-backed EV startup pitched investors on ‘Transformer’-like customization

Jeff Bezos-backed Slate Auto has planted multiple concept versions of its EV on the streets of California. It’s a marketing tactic that teases the secretive startup’s strategy to sell a “Transformer”-like vehicle, people familiar with the company’s internal discussions told TechCrunch.

This unconventional real-world tease comes days before Slate’s April 24 launch event at Long Beach Airport, according to an invite viewed by TechCrunch.

The Michigan-based startup, founded in 2022, has operated in relative secrecy until TechCrunch published a report revealing Bezos’ 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 “Blank Slate” version, according to a trademark application and another person familiar with the company’s plans. Slate has also filed for a trademark for the phrase: “We Built It. You Make It.”

The Autopian’s David Tracy traveled 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 users posted pictures over the weekend of yet another version of the truck made to look like a hatchback that almost resembles Rivian’s forthcoming R3.

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 “Rockabye Rides,” which includes a URL that leads to a website that is counting down to Slate’s event later this week.

That makes three different silhouettes we’ve seen of Slate’s truck so far — and that adaptability is something the company has privately touted as it locked down well over $100 million in funding, TechCrunch has learned.

Slate’s leadership focused heavily on the “Transformer” metaphor as it wooed investors to fill out its Series 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.

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.

Those efforts appear to have been convincing. Guggenheim Partners CEO (and controlling owner of the LA Dodgers) Mark Walter seemingly invested in the round and joined Slate’s board, TechCrunch has reported.

A spokesperson for the company didn’t respond to a request for comment.

These new photos give a pretty clear view of the exterior of Slate’s truck, and the potential level of customization. The interior remains a mystery, and there is no public knowledge about the vehicle’s specs.

The company has briefed a number of automotive journalists ahead of Thursday’s event, and Tracy wrote that he’s “under a strict NDA” on any of the sepecifics.

Even still, Tracy wrote that the Slate truck “is unlike any new vehicle I’ve ever seen not just in my decade as a car journalist, but in my entire lifetime.”