Slate revealed its barebones cheap electrical truck to the lots final night time. It is an attention-grabbing car, able to changing to a small five-seat SUV for hauling folks as a substitute of cargo. Judging by the feedback shared throughout our debut livestream, we suspect many potential Slate clients are largely enthusiastic about cargo.

That brings us to the timeless measure of a truck’s functionality as a workhorse. Can the Slate haul a 4-foot by 8-foot sheet of plywood? The straightforward reply is sure. However there is a bit extra to it than that.

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Supply: Slate

Through the Slate EV’s debut, the corporate mentioned the mattress will maintain “a full sheet of plywood.” That is a normal 4×8 sheet, and with a most payload capability of 1,433 kilos, the truck might carry fairly just a few. The minimal mattress width is 50.0 inches, simply vast sufficient to accommodate a 4-foot (48-inch) vast piece of wooden, in order that checks out.

This is the place issues get a bit extra sophisticated. The mattress size is 5 toes on the nostril. That is 60 inches, effectively in need of a normal piece of plywood. So you will not haul it with the tailgate up with out all types of overhang. Drop the gate and the mattress ground extends to 81.6 inches, which equates to six.8 toes. That is additionally not lengthy sufficient to completely help an enormous sheet of plywood, however that is no large deal. Most full-size vans haven’t got a full 8-foot mattress anymore, so a foot of overhang for plywood or lengthy 2x4s is just about the norm today. Stick a flag on the again, strap all of it down, and you ought to be good to go.

Nonetheless, we’re not sure at this level how effectively these large plywood items are supported within the mattress. The space between the wheel wells is just 42.9 inches. That is not sufficient for plywood to sit down flat, so it’d have to sit down on the wheel wells. The highest parts of the effectively look flat, which is sweet for maintaining the panels secure. However they don’t seem to be very vast, leaving a lot of the sheet unsupported. That should not matter a lot for thicker plywood sheets, however quarter-inch plywood is loopy versatile. And skinny 4×8 paneling could possibly be sketchy, too.

Photograph by: Slate

Ford has an identical setup on the Maverick, which really has a barely shorter mattress in comparison with the Slate. Nonetheless, the Maverick’s wheel arches are longer, wider, and nearer to the mattress. Ford additionally has notches within the facet so as to add help beams throughout the mattress. From what we see within the configurator, Slate would not have the identical type of help.

Nonetheless, the aptitude is there. And since this truck is electrical, there is a bit extra storage up entrance within the frunk. If the mattress is occupied by a weekend’s price of DIY challenge lumber, you may nonetheless carry a 12-pack within the entrance.

It is going to be some time earlier than we are able to put this truck’s cargo capabilities to the take a look at. Slate expects manufacturing to start in direction of the tip of 2026. However judging by the numbers, it must be fairly darned succesful for its measurement.