Happy Friday, and welcome to Critical Materials, your source for the biggest stories shaping the future of the auto industry.

Every Friday, we break down the week’s biggest EV news, keep you up to speed on the cars we’re testing, and recap must-read stories from around the web on driverless cars, batteries, charging, and more.

– Today’s email was written by Rob Stumpf, Suvrat Kothari, and me, Tim Levin.

With a final price announced ($24,950), specs set in stone (205 miles of range), and preorders open, the Slate Truck is closer to America’s driveways than ever. Production is scheduled to kick off in Indiana in the fourth quarter.

This week, I dove deep into whether this outside-the-box startup can succeed in the marketplace, and its new battery strategy that centers around LFP cells. But today, I want to zoom in on my impressions of the truck itself. I think the biggest question people have, given the manual windows and ruthlessly sparse interior, is this: Does this thing just feel too stripped out, even for the price?

To help answer that question, on Monday I flew down to LA to check out a few Slate trucks in person and take a brief ride in one. I had seen the Slate when it was first unveiled over a year ago, but this time around the trucks I saw were clearly more polished, and I had a bit more time to poke around.

The first thing that stands out about the Slate is just how tiny it is for a modern truck. It’s about two-feet shorter than a Ford Maverick, and that gives it the throwback charm of an older Toyota Tacoma or Ford Ranger. I like the design and proportions too. It’s boxy and utilitarian and rides on unremarkable steel wheels. Despite the lack of styling flourishes, the Slate is still handsome and has a real presence. The simple shape almost makes it look like a toy blown up to life-size.

But the interior is what everyone is curious about. The big, rectangular door handles are nice to use, and the door shuts behind you with a satisfying thud—something you might not expect that from the cheapest truck in America.

Inside, the Slate Truck—before any customizations, of course—is startlingly bare. The cabin is pretty much exclusively made of hard gray plastic with a slight texture. There’s a bit of contrast, in that the door panels and dash use a lighter material than the rest of the interior, but there’s nothing visually interesting happening. A base Maverick, for a little under 30 grand, has more going on.

The steering wheel has the slightest bit of give, but there’s really no soft-touch anything to be found. Still, Slate does give you the very basics in its own way. A true center console will cost you $250, but there is a molded plastic bit between the seats with some cupholders and open storage. There’s a simple glovebox, but a lock costs extra. You also get large, easy-to-use knobs for the climate controls. (They can’t be hidden in a touchscreen, because there isn’t one.) A tiny display behind the steering wheel is the extent of the technology included, and that’s where you find your speed and backup camera.

One of Slate’s biggest draws is the ability to customize through a long list of accessories. You can take the Slate platform and turn it into a lifted SUV with leather seats, if you so choose, and that’s a fascinating idea. But the base truck is austere. There’s no doubt about that. Still, it’s also refreshing to be in a car with so few distractions. And it feels authentic. To its credit, the automaker didn’t try to fake a premium look with chintzy materials. What you see is what you get.

It’s actually surprisingly roomy, too. I’m a bit over six feet tall, and I had plenty of headroom and legroom in the front seat. My knees weren’t smashed up against the dash or anything. There’s even a decent amount of space behind the seats to stash a backpack. It’s pretty easy to climb into the back if you add on the $5,000 SUV kit, thanks to a clever front seat that slides extraordinarily far forwards. The second row, too, wasn’t cramped like you might expect.

So what’s it like on the road?

I got about a 10 minute ride with a Slate engineer sitting shotgun. One of the first things I noticed was how punchy and quick the truck felt. Of course, all EVs have the advantage of instant, low-end torque. But I was still pleasantly surprised by the Slate’s zip, given its low price and modest 181 horsepower from a rear-mounted motor. It’s probably quicker than you think, and should be plenty fun for ripping around town.

The ride quality was solid too. It wasn’t plush, but it wasn’t overly harsh either. The Slate soaked up most road imperfections without much issue, and was generally comfortable. It helped that the seats were soft and pliant too.

Will Slate succeed? I think how Americans take to everything I’ve described is still an open question. We do know this: Within the first few hours of preorders opening up, the company logged over 10,000 of them. We’ll see if Slate can keep it up.

-Tim Levin

Get up to speed on the news that caught our eye this week:

Say goodbye to Polestar in America. A ban on Chinese tech is pushing the Volvo sister brand out of the States beginning with the 2027 model year.

Lucid is laying off 1,500 workers, or 18% of its U.S. workforce. It's a move to "simplify the company," says Lucid. Its former interim CEO, Marc Winterhoff, is also out as the company eliminates its COO position. It’s the company’s second big round of layoffs this year.

Rivian is discontinuing the cheapest version of its R1S and R1T lineup as the Rivian R2 comes to market. The Dual Standard variants are officially axed, meaning the price gap is now wider between the R1 and R2 models.

Speaking of Rivian, the brand has just 100 service centers amid the R2 launch. But that's okay, because it wants 80% of service handled by its 800-vehicle mobile repair fleet (right in your driveway). 

Slate's uber-cheap EV is finally here. At a hair under $25,000, it's poised to become America's cheapest EV on sale. But its minimalist design will test how bare-bones car buyers are willing to go to save some cash. We talked all about it on the InsideEVs Plugged-In Podcast this week.

How does the Slate Truck stack up to America’s other cheap EVs, like the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Bolt? We compared all three across the specs that matter.

Tesla is giving away free Supercharging—but there's a catch. In order to win, you'll need to place first on the leaderboard in one of three charging categories. 

Good news for Volvo EX60 and EX90 owners. The automaker is officially rolling out Plug & Charge capabilities in the U.S. for both the Tesla Supercharger and Ionna charging networks, which means DC fast charging just got a whole lot easier.

A new startup wants to make it easier for robotaxis to be cleaned and managed to raise $10 million from backers who believe the company can make it happen. While that might not seem like a big deal, it's one of the few jobs that a human still needs to do despite the cars being able to drive themselves. 

Tesla is in the hot seat again over crashes involving its vehicles and their driver-assistance features. It recently settled a lawsuit involving a 71-year old who was killed by a Model Y driver using Full Self-Driving and is now involved in a federal investigation into another fatal crash where the driver alleges (and Tesla denies) its driver assistance system was used.

The federal government has proposed eliminating the requirement for a brake pedal in cars designed to be autonomous. It would be a win for Tesla and its Cybercab ambitions.

The Xiaomi SU7 GT just completed a lap around the Nurburgring. Its 10 minute time isn't that impressive—until you factor in that nobody was at the steering wheel.

It might look like the old Zoox, but the AV operator's newest robotaxi is hitting the streets soon. Zoox took feedback from riders and made some changes to its autonomous toaster to improve the quality of its rides without having to create a whole new identity for its cars.

-Rob Stumpf

BloombergNEF is now projecting EVs (including both fully electric and plug-in hybrid cars) to account for just 17% of new passenger vehicle sales in the U.S. by the end of the decade, down from last year’s forecast of 27% and considerably lower than 2024’s projection of 48%.

Wonder why the numbers have plummeted so dramatically in just a couple of years? Well, the clean energy sector has been under attack from the Trump administration since the president’s very first day in office. 

Last year, the Trump administration axed the federal tax credits for EVs, rolled back fuel economy standards that encouraged automakers to sell more battery-powered vehicles, and weakened the Environmental Protection Agency’s emissions rules. Another big blow to BNEF’s latest forecast came from the elimination of California’s ability to set its own EV sales requirements, which many other states had followed.

Automakers in the U.S. have recalibrated their EV ambitions and reallocated resources into the production of gas-guzzling trucks and SUVs. Hence all the EV cancellations and delays.

It all means America is getting lapped by EV adoption rates in other major economies. BNEF projects that more than half of Europe’s new passenger vehicle sales will be electric by 2030. China is already there. The firm expects that a whopping 64% of cars sold in China this year will have a plug.

-Suvrat Kothari

Sorry to be a downer. But in case you needed a reminder for why exactly the auto world needs to go electric, here’s a depressingly ironic headline from Reuters for you: Extreme heat panel cancelled due to extreme heat.

Thanks for reading Critical Materials. See you next week!

-Tim Levin