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Slate Auto, the Bezos-backed automaker that’s building America’s business Cheapest electric truckis collaborating with Crayola on five vehicle skins. It’s clearly the crayon company’s first-ever automotive partnership, yet it fits neatly into Slate’s core pitch: an unpainted gray truck designed from the start to be coated rather than sprayed to cut costs.
The five brightly colored rolls – Cerulean, Fern, Jersey Tomato, Razzmatazz, and Dandelion– It’s being pulled from Crayola’s current color lineup, which means that, yes, potential owners will have to specify that they want the hot-pink Razzmatazz Slate (WIRED’S PICK).
Each comes as a starter kit containing decals, complete with a color-coordinated keychain cover, and a dashboard-mounted accessory that Slate calls a “Slatelet.” The bundles will be sold through Slate’s own online marketplace, alongside more than 200 other accessories the company already offers.
The base “empty” truck starts at $24,950, a price that already makes it the cheapest new truck on the American market. The electric car comes with a gray unibody composite body, no touchscreen, and manual windows, all in service of hitting this low price point.
Slate wraps have been part of the plan since day one, with standard wrap sets in more than 100 colors starting at $500, and the company said professional installation is done in much the same way. However, while this colorful transformation may evoke childhood memories, the price of starter Crayola refills is certainly not pocket money. Converting a Dandelion or Jersey Tomato will set owners back $1,550, three times the cost of a standard Slate case — a meaningful jump considering the brand’s “affordable customization” offering.
