On November 3, 2026, Jonathan M. Gitlin drove a Slate electric-truck prototype for 45 minutes, from southwest Washington, DC, to Rockville, Maryland. He found it easy to maneuver, with direct steering and unusually strong low-speed regenerative braking that took a few minutes to get used to.
What the prototype felt like on the road
Gitlin described the steering as direct and well-assisted, and said the truck was easy to maneuver and park. Its motor produced a reported 181 hp and 195 lb-ft of torque. He put the prototype’s 0–60 mph time at eight seconds.
The ride was not especially supple. At low speeds, lifting off the accelerator triggered strong regenerative braking, which slows the vehicle while recovering energy. The prototype used fixed lift-off regeneration and default one-pedal driving; Gitlin said he adapted to it after a few minutes.
The cabin layout and its physical controls
Gitlin said the cabin layout matched the planned production version, though the prototype’s hard, shiny black surfaces and leftover camouflage Velcro did not. The two-seat cab used manual seat and steering-column adjustments, hand-adjusted mirrors, a key-fob slot on the dash, a column shifter, a manual window winder and three climate-control dials. A phone mount could serve for navigation.
What earlier footage adds
In an earlier hands-on video, Edmunds Cars walks through the cabin, including a 4.3-inch digital gauge cluster, and shows a modular SUV configuration with a bed cap and rear seating. The video also cites preproduction figures of a 64-kWh battery, about 205 miles of estimated range and a 120-kW peak charge rate. Those figures are separate from Gitlin’s 45-minute drive.
In his November 4, 2026 account, Gitlin wrote that mass production still needed to happen.
