Ford Keeps the Screen, Slate Hands You a Phone Mount
The pricing is close. The Blank Slate Truck starts at $24,950 plus a $1,450 destination charge, while the Ford Fathom begins at $28,350 plus $1,595. Preorders for the Fathom are set for , according to Engadget.
Beyond the touchscreen and CarPlay and Android Auto support, the Fathom includes:
- A digital key
- Bidirectional power capabilities
- Hardware for Ford’s BlueCruise hands-free driving system, though activation is required
Slate takes the opposite route. Instead of an infotainment system, it provides a dedicated spot to mount and charge a phone or tablet, with optional accessory speakers and a bracket for larger tablets. Navigation, music, and messaging apps run directly on the driver’s device. Slate Auto says this keeps the hardware from becoming dated. Software updates are downloaded through a phone and transferred to the truck, which removes the need for an embedded cellular connection, InsideEVs reported.
The trade-off is obvious: a phone screen is smaller than a dashboard display, and some prospective owners are already discussing aftermarket ways to add CarPlay or Android Auto to the Slate.
Two Different Ways to Cut Costs
The split reflects how each company is holding its price down. Ford, with over a century of manufacturing behind it, is simplifying engineering and assembly while keeping familiar cabin features. It is investing $2 billion to retool its Louisville Assembly Plant for its Universal EV Production System, a platform that uses 20 percent fewer parts than typical vehicles. Assembly is expected to be 15 percent faster than previous products from the plant. Slate, as a newer entrant, questions every inclusion to reach its number.
Buyer demand leans toward connectivity. Deloitte’s 2025 Global Automotive Consumer Study surveyed more than 31,000 consumers and found that 63 percent of US respondents considered smartphone connectivity via CarPlay or Android Auto somewhat or very important
for their next vehicle.
Ford has not yet announced the Fathom’s projected range, towing capacity, or payload. It is pitched as a conventional five-seat daily driver, while Slate’s two-door pickup, with fewer electronics, targets buyers who want extreme simplicity.
Hashlytics Take
Nothing about this launch settles the debate yet. The Fathom has no range, towing, or payload figures and no preorders until early 2027, so the screen is the only part of the comparison anyone can judge. What the numbers do suggest is that the display is not where the money is: Ford’s platform uses 20 percent fewer parts and still kept the big touchscreen. Slate’s roughly $3,400 lower base price also comes with a two-door body and fewer electronics overall, so the missing screen cannot take all the credit. The Deloitte figure deserves care too. It measures appetite for CarPlay and Android Auto, which put a phone’s apps on a built-in display, and that is not the same as wanting the phone itself to be the display. Slate’s phone-carried updates add another thing to watch, since they swap a cellular connection for owner diligence, and urgent fixes will only reach trucks whose owners bother to transfer them.
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