"WARSAW, INDIANA-The Blank Slate pickup scratches a particular itch for some, fulfilling the desire for an EV powertrain without all the bells and whistles associated with a modern vehicle. Gone is the infotainment screen, the lane-keeping assistance, and, for those concerned about surveillance, a modem. Instead, it's an unpainted modular pickup and can be configured post-production into nearly anything the owner wants. Oh, and it's cheap."
"For decades, the RR Donnelley & Sons printing plant in Warsaw, Indiana, pumped out catalogs. Glossy shopping books from JCPenney, Sears, and-my personal favorite-Radio Shack left the plant and were shipped all over the country to eager shoppers looking for their next mail-order delight. Then the Internet broke all of that. The last employees clocked out in 2023. A room formerly used in the printing process is filled with locals, elected officials, and journalists."
The Blank Slate is an unpainted, modular electric pickup designed as a minimalist alternative to feature-rich EVs. The vehicle omits infotainment screens, lane-keeping assistance, and a modem, and it can be configured post-production into diverse use cases. The platform uses approximately 600 parts versus roughly 6,000 for conventional pickups, eliminating the need for a paint shop or large stamping operations. Production is slated to begin at a 1.4 million square-foot Warsaw, Indiana facility in the fourth quarter of 2026. The factory includes a room planned as a customer center and potential delivery location. Launch timing is targeted for the mid-2020s, with a projected price near $27,500.
Read at Ars Technica
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