Jeff Bezos invests billions, unveils America’s 2nd worst pickup. (Spoiler – Cybertruck was just crowned one of the 10 worst vehicles of all time)

Photo above - official press kit photo of the Bezos-made cheapest vehicle in America. Location not specified. Looks like someplace from a low budget slasher film, no?

I saw a Ford F150 lightning electric pickup once. At a stoplight. I don’t know anyone who actually owns this thing though. They cost like $90,000. It was about 8 feet tall. This is not the electric vehicle I have been waiting for.

I’ve seen several Cybertrucks. The people driving them either look like “Florida man” or trust fund babies. It’s one of the “10 dumbest vehicles of all time", according to Motor Trend. (see link below).

Jeff Bezos is investing billions to build an EV truck. Is this finally going to be the one for me? The price is right . . . $20,000 stripped, $25,000 equipped well enough so that you’d actually agree to get behind the wheel. It’s called “Slate”. It’s also an abomination.

Price aside, do you want an EV truck that ONLY seats yourself and one passenger? That has a paltry 150 mile range? That takes 8 hours to recharge even with it’s laughably small battery? Incapable towing 2 jet skis on a mini trailer?

Wait, it gets better. There’s no Bluetooth. No Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. The specs released so far are mute on luxuries such as air conditioning, power side mirrors, and power windows. At this price point I’m predicting that crank windows might on the base model.

Can you actually buy one? If you put a deposit down, Bezo’s company will let you know when they’re coming off the assembly line and deliver one directly to your front door. Will people fall for this again? It’s how the Cybertruck was first promised, and then it took years for deliveries to begin. The Bezos/Slate vehicle deposit is probably just simply a measuring stick to see if there’s any market for this thing, before they actually start making it. If there aren’t enough deposits, Bezos will send your check back in the mail.

The Slate pick up will be made “in the Midwest”, with parts sourced from America. Yea . . . finally something to cheer about. What factory is that? Bezos doesn’t say. Hopefully not the one in the photo at top. But there are so many vacant auto factories around these days though, I’m confident that Bezos actually has found one. Slate trucks will not be built by UAW union members earning $140,000 a year, however. If this thing is actually made, it will probably be the most-robot assembled vehicle ever.

There’s no Slate truck dealer network, obviously. And I don’t know where you go for help after a breakdown or accident. I can’t even tell you if the Slate truck body panels are metal, plastic, or unobtanium.

Sorry Mr. Bezos, this is NOT a vehicle designed for me, or for America’s roads. It seems more like a farm/market trucklet for places like Thailand, India, or Slovakia. Chinese EV maker BYD will probably have a competitor which is pretty much the same if we can wait a few minutes. And the BYD will have likely have Android, air conditioning, seating for 4, and cost less.

I’m not trying to cast shade on Mr. Bezos. I use Amazon Prime all the time. This Slate throwback truck could make its first appearance as an Amazon product, in fact. Amazon does deliver stuff to everyone’s door, like Bezos’s is promising with the Slate truck. At just 15 feet long it would easily fit in a delivery van, no?

The elderly lady on the floor beneath mine bought a six person NEV (neighborhood electric vehicle) somewhere online last year. It cost $12,000. After a couple of months it stopped working. Whatever part broke, it’s on back order, and nobody can get it. Her fancy golf cart is snoozing in our apartment parking lot right now. My neighbor is cheerful and optimistic about this. Someday the parts will arrive. But the new Bezos/Slate EV doesn’t even have enough towing power to take her golf cart to the repair shop, if and when parts do show up.

Apple spent 10 years trying to build an affordable EV, then gave up when they saw Chinese made EV’s approaching fast in their rear-view mirror. Bezos evidently didn’t check his own rearview mirror.

I’m just sayin’ . . .

The Dumbest Cars of All Time, Ranked by MotorTrend's Staff

Slate EV (backed by Bezos) ready to challenge Tesla; how to get one