Slate Auto, the Bezos-backed startup trying to sell a stripped-down electric pickup for $24,950, has found a louder way to dress up its intentionally dull truck: Crayola-branded wraps.
The company is partnering with Crayola on five color kits based on the crayon maker’s existing colors: Cerulean, Fern, Jersey Tomato, Razzmatazz, and Dandelion. WIRED reported that the deal appears to be Crayola’s first automotive partnership.
The tie-up fits Slate’s central design trick. The company’s base truck comes with a single gray composite body rather than a painted finish. Slate’s argument is that skipping paint helps hold down the sticker price, while owners can later wrap the vehicle if they want it to look less like a fleet appliance waiting for a logo.
That customization will not be cheap in Crayola form. Slate’s regular wrap kits are available in more than 100 colors and start at $500, with the company saying professional installation costs about the same. The Crayola starter packs cost $1,550 for at least the Dandelion and Jersey Tomato versions, according to WIRED. That is three times the starting price of a standard Slate wrap before any installation cost enters the chat.
What buyers get in the kit
Each Crayola pack includes the wrap and decals, plus a matching cap for the key fob and a clip-on dashboard accessory that Slate calls a Slatelet. Slate plans to sell the packs through its own online marketplace, where the company already lists more than 200 accessories.
The extra-cost color packs are arriving before the truck itself. WIRED reported that prospective buyers can preorder a Slate for $300, while people who already paid a $50 reservation can preorder for $250. Buyers will be able to add a Crayola pack later before deliveries begin.
Slate says deliveries remain scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of 2026. WIRED reported that most trucks are expected to ship through 2027.
The truck underneath the crayons
The base Slate is deliberately bare. According to Slate’s published specs cited by WIRED, the rear-wheel-drive pickup uses a single motor and has a claimed 205-mile range. The company lists towing capacity at 2,000 pounds and payload at 1,550 pounds.
Performance is modest by EV standards, which is probably the point. Slate claims a zero-to-60 mph time of 8 seconds and a top speed of 90 mph. The cabin skips the usual giant touchscreen, and the truck uses manual windows, all part of Slate’s attempt to keep the price low.
The battery is a 65-kWh lithium iron phosphate pack. LFP chemistry is generally cheaper than nickel-manganese-cobalt battery chemistry, helping explain how Slate gets near its $25,000 target. WIRED noted that the technology was invented in the United States and refined at scale in China.
Slate says the truck can fast-charge at up to 120 kW on DC power, taking the battery from 20 percent to 80 percent in 30 minutes. Those numbers remain company claims until trucks reach customers and independent testers get their hands on them.
The Crayola deal makes Slate’s blank-canvas pitch easier to see and harder to price as purely budget-friendly. A gray $24,950 electric truck is the hook. A $1,550 Dandelion makeover is the upsell.
This story draws on original reporting from WIRED.
