As a newcomer to the electric vehicle (EV) industry, Slate Automotive is shaking up the landscape. The firm has been gracing headlines as it prepares to roll out its initial wave of vehicles. Christine Barman serves as the company’s chief executive officer and president. Under her leadership, they hope to find their own space in the crowded EV universe through affordability and personalized design. Just last month, Slate raised a $30 million Series B round with impressive backing, including from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ family office.
The startup eventually aims to sell its own trucks, each costing an estimated $25,000. Along with vehicles, they’ll be providing an ever-deepening lineup of accessories and apparel, empowering customers to customize their vehicles and maximizing margin-rich revenue, too. As the automotive industry undergoes a transformation towards electrification, Slate is positioning itself as a forward-thinking company, aiming for production by late 2026 at a facility near Indianapolis, Indiana.
Leadership and Background
Christine first joined Slate as a sub and brings a depth of experience from her years working in the automotive industry. Her path started with an internship after college with General Motors — McCarthy graduated from Purdue University. Indeed, Barman has had a fabulous 20+ year career at Chrysler. While there, she was a key player in launching vehicle line programs for such legendary nameplates as the Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, and Jeep Cherokee. This extensive background in the industry equips her with the knowledge and expertise necessary to navigate the complexities of launching a new automotive brand.
Barman’s leadership is complemented by Rodney Copes, Slate’s executive chairman. Copes’ two decades of experience at Harley-Davidson only further bolsters the company’s quickly growing leadership team. As a team, they’re well-positioned to shepherd Slate past the incubator phase and help it develop in a quickly changing landscape.
The company’s rapid growth is further reflected in its fundraising initiatives. Just this year, Slate completed a $111+ million Series A funding round, a staggering amount of money for a single funding round. Former Amazon exec Diego Piacentini was among the investors. Late last year, the company completed its Series B round at a valuation of $2.37 per share. They approved almost 500 million of those preferred shares during this round alone.
Strategic Vision and Product Development
Slate has similarly high hopes for its first wave of products. The firm purposely created their initial vehicles to be premium products, minimizing profit margin on purpose. That said, it’s looking to make a bigger impact on more people by introducing a cheaper model of its truck. We applaud the decision to price trucks at approximately $25,000, demonstrating an awareness of today’s market need for affordable electric vehicles.
Slate is passionate about improving customer ownership and operations experience. The company is producing a growing line of accessories and apparel that fit seamlessly with its vehicles. The accessories give owners the opportunity to personalize their trucks, resulting in one-of-a-kind creations tailored to their specific tastes. Beyond simply boosting revenue, this strategy helps build a community between other Slate owners.
Slate is committed to putting down roots and developing talent in the booming electric mobility ecosystem. Under the tentative plans, the company would lean on outside suppliers for high-voltage battery packs and electric motors. By this approach, they can focus on vehicle design and customer engagement, rather than producing every single component themselves.
“WE BUILT IT. YOU MAKE IT.” – Slate’s trademark filing
Future Prospects and Market Positioning
Slate’s vision stretches well beyond just producing electric trucks. It hopes to create an ecosystem that genuinely improves the end-to-end customer journey. The company’s recent job postings — including positions for “Ecosystem Leaders” — suggest that plan may extend far beyond the company’s tangle of self-driving unit Waymo. Another listing asks for a “Chief Tinkerer of Slate University.” This newly-created role underpins the company’s commitment to delivering educational content that improves the ownership experience for customers.
The role involves leading strategy and ecosystem development for learning content targeted to retail associates, customers, technicians and any potential Amazon automotive partner. This is not the first time Slate has ventured into the automotive space. They aim to fundamentally transform how consumers interact with their vehicles post-sale.
The company has an open position listed as “Lead Product Manager, Accessories.” This role will be primarily responsible for developing and implementing products that enhance delivery offerings and increase customer utilization. Tire Industry Job Description Understanding customer needs and preferences will be critical in this rapidly evolving market.
“As the Lead, you will drive the strategy and ecosystem development for the educational content and delivery for Slate shoppers, customers, technicians, and partners.” – Lead of a job listing
The commitment to building a community around its products is further reflected in another job posting that emphasizes passion for automobiles: “Must love cars! You’ll be thinking about cars all day every day, and it’s the most fun when you love cars.” This attitude seeks to draw in culture-building talent aligned with so many brand purpose’s vision and values.
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