Five ways to build a Slate EV, from $25,000 to $37,000

It has some interior trim that the bare-bones pickup did without, and it sports a fetching purple wrap to match my unicorn-servicing business’s uniforms, which admittedly adds $499 to the bottom line. But the rest is purely functional: a structural floor liner for the bed, a toolbox, a locking tailgate, and some MOLLE webbing into which I can strap things.

There’s a tow hitch—rated for up to 2,000 lbs (907 kg), with up to 1,550 lbs (703 kg) in the bed, and a $275 telematics module because I do want to be able to track this truck online. Without this telematics module, you can’t connect your phone to the car via Bluetooth.

For my final pickup variant, I wanted to build something for adventuring, and my selections came in at a total of $32,923.64… plus whatever the lift kit ends up costing. Almost $8,000 in add-ons is a lot—much of the money went to the various exterior lights—and I probably could have kept going with some gear to help get unstuck from sand or mud.

slate ev, pickup truck, floor liner, bed toolbox, locking tailgate, molle webbing, tow hitch, telematics module, bluetooth, exterior lights