Welcome to the Daily 5 report for Tuesday, May 20.
Electric vehicle startup Slate Auto, in a world accustomed to failed EV startups, is shaping up to be the real deal. The company said in this story by Laurence Iliff that it plans to launch a sub-$30,000 mini-pickup out of a brownfield site in the Midwest, drawing 100,000 customer reservations and $700 million in financing.
The startup opened reservations with a small $50 refundable deposit when it revealed its two-door pickup April 24.
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Slate, which is targeting late-2026 production, has been operating in "stealth mode" since 2022. One key investor is Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The Troy, Mich., company has raised $700 million and the latest funding round closed in late 2024. Slate said its biggest backers include investment funds Bezos Expeditions, General Catalyst and TWG Global, Iliff wrote.
General Catalyst is invested in a variety of brands, including Airbnb and Snapchat, its website says. TWG Global has investments in the Los Angeles Dodgers and Cadillac Formula 1 Team as part of its portfolio, it said.
Slate CEO Chris Barman is a former engineering vice president at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, now Stellantis. Other top executives have industry experience, including at EV maker Rivian, according to LinkedIn. Amazon was an early backer of Rivian and still owns a minority stake.
Meanwhile, Honda Motor Co. generated a lot of news today as the company sliced down its sales and investment targets.
CEO Toshihiro Mibe also signaled how Honda plans to deal with President Donald Trump's tariff blitz. He said Honda wants to wait several months — or maybe even until the U.S. midterm elections — to see how U.S. tariff policies shake out before resorting to a "drastic" rework of its North American factory footprint, Hans Greimel wrote.
In California, Honda and its joint venture partner Sony are getting targeted by the state's new car dealers association for a legal fight over direct-to-consumer sales. The likely battle is similar to dealers' opposition to Volkswagen Group's startup Scout Motors selling vehicles directly to buyers.
The Honda-Sony JV has begun taking deposits from California residents for the Afeela 1, the first EV from the brand expected to arrive in early 2026, Carly Schaffner wrote.
That's it for now. Have a great rest of your day. If you want to view this story in your browser, click here.
— Philip Nussel, online editor
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