Two automakers are reaching for the same modest number, a price under thirty thousand dollars, to bring electric pickups to people who have long been priced out of the truck. Their choices diverge most visibly on the dashboard: one company has removed the built-in screen and trusts the driver's phone to carry maps, music, and updates, while the other keeps the familiar display and streams the phone's apps onto it. Each path reflects a deeper question about what an affordable vehicle must contain, and whether buyers will accept less in exchange for simplicity. The answer will be written in the
Slate Skips the Infotainment Screen; Ford's Fathom Keeps CarPlay, Setting Up a Cheap-EV Design Split
If the infotainment hardware is in your pocket, it can't get hopelessly dated.
Mark
Both trucks start under $30,000. So why is the screen the thing people are talking about?
Mimi
Because it shows two ways to get cheap. Slate removes the screen and says your phone does the job. Ford keeps CarPlay and Android Auto and saves money in the factory instead.
Luke
Worth noting that the Slate details come from the company via InsideEVs and the article's own reading. We haven't seen it tested in daily use.
Mark
What does Slate actually offer in place of a screen?
Mimi
Phone mounting and charging are standard. Buyers can add accessory speakers and a bracket for a larger tablet. Updates can be downloaded to a phone and transferred to the truck, so no built-in cellular connection.
Luke
And the pitch that a pocket device won't age is a reasonable argument, not a proven outcome. The trade-off is a smaller screen.
Mark
How is Ford cutting cost, then?
Mimi
By retooling Louisville Assembly Plant for $2 billion. Ford says 20 percent fewer parts, 50 percent fewer cooling hoses and connections, and a wiring harness over 4,000 feet shorter than the Mach-E's.
Luke
Those are Ford's claims. And Ford hasn't given range, towing or payload for the Fathom, so the value comparison is incomplete.
Mark
Do buyers care about CarPlay?
Mimi
Deloitte's 2025 survey found 63 percent of US respondents rated it somewhat or very important. Some Slate fans online are already discussing aftermarket stereos and Raspberry Pi workarounds.
Luke
That's chatter, not sales data. Whether it hurts Slate is still unknown.
Der Puls
- Slate's $24,950 truck arrives with no built-in infotainment screen, leaving drivers to rely on their own phones for navigation and music.
- Ford's $28,350 Fathom keeps a large touchscreen with CarPlay and Android Auto, sharpening the contrast between the two cheap-EV strategies.
- Ford is retooling its Louisville plant for $2 billion and cutting parts, hoses, and wiring to drive down manufacturing costs.
- Buyers are split on whether phone-based infotainment is a clever simplification or a missing feature, and aftermarket hackers are already experimenting.
- Fathom preorders open in early 2027, but range and towing figures remain unannounced, leaving the outcome of the price battle unsettled.
Two automakers are reaching for the same modest number, a price under thirty thousand dollars, to bring electric pickups to people who have long been priced out of the truck. Their choices diverge most visibly on the dashboard: one company has removed the built-in screen and trusts the driver's phone to carry maps, music, and updates, while the other keeps the familiar display and streams the phone's apps onto it. Each path reflects a deeper question about what an affordable vehicle must contain, and whether buyers will accept less in exchange for simplicity. The answer will be written in the coming years of sales and in the quiet decisions of people choosing where their money goes.
Two electric pickups are chasing the same price target, a starting figure just under thirty thousand dollars. Slate's Blank Slate Truck lists at $24,950, and Ford's Fathom begins at $28,350. The sharpest difference is what sits on the dashboard. Ford includes a large touchscreen running Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Slate includes no built-in infotainment at all, only a mount and charger for your phone.
Slate's bet is that the phone should do the work. Navigation, music, and apps stay on the device in your pocket, and software updates are moved to the truck from a phone rather than through an embedded connection. The logic is that hardware in your pocket cannot grow obsolete inside the vehicle. The cost is a smaller screen, and some prospective owners are already exploring aftermarket stereos to bring CarPlay or Android Auto back.
Ford is taking the familiar path, pairing its display with a digital key, bidirectional power, and hardware for its next BlueCruise hands-free system. It is cutting costs through engineering rather than omission. A $2 billion retool of Louisville Assembly Plant supports its Universal EV Production System, which uses 20 percent fewer parts and far fewer cooling connections.
Both approaches have merit, and buyers will decide between them. Phone integration matters to most American drivers, yet a stripped two-door truck may be exactly what some people want. The outcome is still open, and the Fathom's range and towing numbers have yet to arrive.
Two electric pickups are aiming at the same number: a starting price under $30,000. The Slate Blank Slate Truck lists at $24,950 plus a $1,450 destination charge. Ford's Fathom starts at $28,350 plus a $1,595 destination charge. The more telling difference sits on the dashboard, where the two companies have made opposite choices about the screen.
Ford says the Fathom will have a large touchscreen running Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Slate has no traditional infotainment system at all. Instead, the truck gives you a place to mount and charge your phone. Some buyers will find that refreshingly simple. Anyone used to seeing maps, music and messages on a proper center display may find it too simple.
Slate's approach is more than leaving CarPlay off the options sheet. The phone or tablet is meant to do the work. Mounting and charging are standard, and buyers can add accessory speakers and a bracket that holds a larger tablet. Navigation, music and the other apps people normally reach through CarPlay or Android Auto stay on the device. Slate told InsideEVs that software updates for the truck can be downloaded to a phone and transferred to the vehicle, so it doesn't need an embedded cellular connection.
There is a logic to it. If the infotainment hardware is in your pocket, it can't become hopelessly dated as the truck ages. The trade-off is a phone screen smaller than a dedicated dashboard display. And although Slate dropped the screen to keep things simple, some prospective owners online are already discussing aftermarket stereos, Raspberry Pi projects and other ways to get CarPlay or Android Auto into the truck.
Ford is taking the familiar route. Beyond the CarPlay and Android Auto display, the Fathom will get a digital key, bidirectional power and hardware for Ford's next-generation BlueCruise hands-free system, which requires activation. Ford hasn't announced the Fathom's projected range, towing capacity or payload. Preorders begin in early 2027.
The gap makes more sense given how each company is trying to build a cheap EV. Slate is starting from scratch and questioning everything that goes into the truck. Ford has built vehicles for more than a century, and its answer is to simplify the engineering and assembly while keeping more familiar equipment in the cabin.
Ford is investing $2 billion to retool Louisville Assembly Plant around its Universal EV Production System. The automaker says the platform uses 20 percent fewer parts than a typical vehicle and 50 percent fewer cooling hoses and connections. Its wiring harness is more than 4,000 feet shorter than the one in the Mustang Mach-E, Ford's first-generation electric SUV. Assembly is expected to net out 15 percent faster than for the plant's previous products. The aim is to cut manufacturing costs without making the cabin look unfinished.
Phone integration matters to buyers. Deloitte's 2025 Global Automotive Consumer Study surveyed more than 31,000 consumers in 30 countries. It found that 63 percent of US respondents considered CarPlay or Android Auto somewhat or very important in their next vehicle.
Slate's approach isn't necessarily wrong. A cheaper two-door pickup with fewer electronics may be exactly what some buyers want, though CarPlay or Android Auto may prove one of those small features that feel much bigger once you've lived without them. The five-seat Fathom, meanwhile, looks like the more conventional daily driver. Whether buyers accept phone-based infotainment will shape demand, and Fathom range and towing figures are still to come.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
Vehicle software updates can be downloaded onto a phone and transferred to the truck, avoiding the need for an embedded cellular connection.— Slate, as told to InsideEVs
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