Slate Auto raises $650M to support its affordable EV plans

Jeff Bezos contributed Electric car startup Slate Auto has raised another $650 million as the company plans to roll out its affordable cars by the end of 2026.

A car manufacturer he said on Monday that Series C financing was led by TWG Global, a company managed by Guggenheim Partners CEO (and owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers) Mark Walter and investor Thomas Tull. Slate Auto’s press release thanked the “visionary investors” but the company did not name who else was involved in the investment.

The new round means Slate Auto has raised nearly $1.4 billion to date. Previous investors have included General Catalyst, the family office of Jeff Bezos, VC Slauson & Co., and former Amazon CEO Diego Piacentini, as TechCrunch first reported it last year.

The company is also imbued with Amazon DNA. Beyond its investors, it was founded by Amazon’s former Chief Consumer Officer Jeff Wilke. The heads of Slate’s navigation, user interface, e-commerce, shipping, and HR teams all worked at Amazon. And, the company has already invested Amazon Marketplace VP Peter Faricy as CEO. (Former and former Chrysler CEO Chris Barman moved to a new role as “President of Vehicles.”)

Slate Auto’s Series C comes at a difficult time for the electric car market in the United States. Major automakers are pushing back on plans to introduce electric vehicles now, especially after losing a $7,500 federal tax credit last year. Tesla’s overall sales have fallen for two years in a row. Newcomers like Rivian and Lucid Motors have struggled to achieve growth, though both companies are launching new, more affordable models this year.

Launched in 2022, Slate Auto is taking a different approach than the rest of the machines. The company is targeting the lower end of the market with a bare-bones electric car that is expected to start in the mid-$20,000s. Customers will be able to customize the vehicle in a variety of ways to get more bang for their buck, including adding SUV accessories for about $5,000.

The company originally planned to buy the car for about $27,000, and when it came out in 2025 it was promoting a starting price of “less than $20,000” with a federal tax credit. Final pricing is coming in June, according to the company.

Slate Auto has taken full interest even with the loss of the federal tax credit. The company has maintained more than 160,000 refundable reservations for its EV. The company recently announced that it had appointed Faricy as its new CEO in part to work on the transition from booking to payments. Slate is also spending several million dollars renovating an old printing plant in Indiana where it plans to build EVs.