Slate’s Truck Gets a Build Month

Business Insider reported that Kenda said in a press release last week that an EV-specific tire will launch on the Blank Slate “when the vehicle enters production in November 2026.” Slate itself had previously said only that first deliveries were expected in the fourth quarter of 2026, without naming a month.

That makes the detail notable less because it is dramatic than because it is specific. Startups say many things in quarters. A month is harder to hide inside.

Business Insider also reported in September that Slate had told some preorder customers they could receive their vehicles as soon as December. If Kenda’s statement reflects Slate’s current plan, November production would line up with that.

The company has been giving ride-alongs to potential buyers around the US since August, according to Business Insider, and customers told the outlet that Slate employees said the interior panels and finishes on those trucks were still prototypes rather than final production versions. Late last month, Ars Technica reported, as cited by Business Insider, that Slate’s factory in Warsaw, Indiana, was still producing prototype models but would transition to production units “soon.”

Slate is pitching a $24,950 electric pickup with manual-crank windows, no radio and no music speakers, plus a large accessories marketplace for buyers who want to add things back. It also said in June that more than 180,000 people had placed $50 reservations, though the company has not disclosed how many customers paid $300 to enter a preorder queue.

So the useful shift here is narrow but real. November 2026 is not a launch in the driveway, and it is not proof that Slate will move cleanly from prototypes to volume production. It is, at minimum, a date now sitting in public with Slate’s name on it, even if it arrived by way of a tire company.