Why Slate Isn

There are still a lot of unanswered questions around what is probably the single most-hyped car launch of 2026. How much will Slate Auto’s affordable truck actually cost? How will it function in the real world? And, maybe most crucially for the startup electric vehicle manufacturer: Do customers actually want a bare-bones, two-door pickup with roll-up windows?

On Tuesday, Slate addressed one big unknown: where buyers will be able to get their mini electric trucks serviced. The automaker has struck a deal with the RepairPal online network of repair shops in what it calls an “industry-first” partnership. 

RepairPal’s 4,000-plus locations are where future Slate owners can go to get work done on their trucks once they hit the road in late 2026. (Notably, the company says that not all locations will offer warranty repairs.) DIY-averse customers will also be able to hit up a shop for professional installation of the automaker’s many unique accessories, like an SUV kit that adds a roof and an extra row of seats.

RepairPal isn’t a chain of service centers itself. Instead, it certifies all sorts of independent shops based on metrics like their pricing, customer satisfaction, what tools they have and the experience level of their mechanics. The company was acquired by restaurant-ratings giant Yelp last year. 

The idea, Slate says, is to give customers quality service all around the country—without spending the time and capital needed to build all that infrastructure itself. 

“One of the greatest challenges around building a car company is building that infrastructure, covering it coast-to-coast, and ensuring an ideal customer experience,” Jeremy Snyder, Slate’s chief commercial officer, told me on Tuesday. “The time and the CapEx that it takes to grow out hundreds of stores is one of the greatest barriers to entry, and a problem that we have solved in an innovative way.”

RepairPal offers guaranteed pricing, so Slate service will cost the same no matter which location you go to. It also has a modern digital scheduling tool, Snyder told me. 

It’s not hard to see why this asset-light model is appealing to Slate. Tesla has spent a fortune blanketing the country with service centers and deploying an army of mobile technicians to keep up with growing sales. Yet Tesla drivers are perennially pissed about long wait times, and some still have to drive hours to the nearest location. 

Complaints on online forums show that Rivian, too, has struggled to keep up with demand at its service centers. It’s in the midst of a big push to build more service capacity ahead of the launch of its mass-market R2 SUV. 

Slate is full of alumni from those EV startups, including Snyder, who spend a decade at Tesla. He says the company is well aware of those struggles. 

“When you grow exponentially year over year, it is very difficult to grow your infrastructure year over year. And the reality is that there is a very good infrastructure that exists that hasn’t been engaged in this way,” Snyder said. 

Slate has big dreams for growth, with plans to churn out 150,000 mid-$20,000s trucks annually once its Indiana plant is running a full clip by late 2027 or early 2028. And, like Tesla and Rivian, it plans to sell direct-to-consumer. But instead of building out immense amounts of physical infrastructure, it plans to handle service more like a traditional automaker does.

Ford, Toyota and the rest make the cars, while franchised dealerships operate the brick-and-mortar stores that sell and maintain them. They may lose the direct connection with the customer that Tesla, Rivian and Lucid might enjoy—but they also avoid the cost of keeping up and expanding that kind of infrastructure. 

Through this novel (and, in some ways, old-school) approach, Slate hopes to nail service better than other EV startups. 

“We believe that when customers are able to visit local shops close to their home, that will give them a sense of security that, quite frankly, they haven’t had in the direct-to-consumer space,” Snyder said. 

Got a tip? Contact the author: Tim.Levin@InsideEVs.com