by A New Player in the Electric Vehicle Market
Slate Auto is continuing to execute its plan to launch an affordable electric vehicle, doing so at a rather inconvenient time when demand for EVs in the U.S. is declining. Order acceptance for the new model will begin this month, although the company has yet to announce the car’s final price. As mass production approaches, another, less obvious investor has come to light — the company Carvana.
Connection with Carvana
Although Carvana is primarily known as a used car seller, it has recently been actively expanding its operations into the new car market by acquiring several former Stellantis dealerships across the country. Last year, Carvana received a warrant to purchase shares in Slate Auto around the same time the automaker was organizing its Series C funding round, which raised $650 million.
Documents filed with the Delaware Department of Corporations reveal the connection between the two companies, but they do not confirm whether Carvana exercised the warrant, and if so, how many shares it received.
According to a TechCrunch report, Carvana stated in a March filing that it received a warrant last year to purchase shares of an unnamed “product company,” noting that the total value of the warrant at the end of 2025 was $1.5 million. It is unclear whether this document referred to Slate Auto or another company.
Who Else Invested?
To date, Slate Auto has raised approximately $1.4 billion, although detailed information about investor stakes is limited. It is known that one of the main investors is Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, as well as billionaire and Guggenheim Partners CEO Mark Walter. Other notable investors include General Catalyst, Slauson & Co, and Amazon executive Diego Piacentini.
According to the startup, prices for the fully electric pickup truck will start somewhere in the “mid-$20,000s” range. This is higher than the initially promised price of under $20,000, but that was before the Trump administration eliminated the $7,500 federal tax credit for electric vehicles.
Thus, Slate Auto is attempting to enter the market with an affordable electric vehicle at a time when government support has decreased and consumer interest in EVs is not as high as before. The partnership with Carvana, which has an extensive sales network, could be a key factor for the startup’s success, as it would potentially allow the use of its channels for distributing new cars. At the same time, uncertainty regarding the final price and the actual volume of investment from Carvana leaves many questions about how quickly and successfully Slate Auto can begin mass production.
