18:28 15-12-2025

Slate Truck's $25K electric pickup revives crank windows and inspires the Window Winder mod

Ask where you can cut costs in a new electric pickup for roughly $25,000, and the answer is usually predictable: materials, options, infotainment. Slate Auto—the startup linked to Jeff Bezos—went further, betting on an ultra-basic spec right down to manual window cranks. For the U.S., that’s practically a museum piece; new cars with cranks haven’t been sold there for decades. The reasoning is easy to follow: batteries remain expensive, and the team wants to keep the truck in the mid-twenties even without tax credits. That kind of honest simplicity may be exactly what appeals to buyers weary of unnecessary frills.

This is where the creator of Unnecessary Inventions steps in. He unveiled a device called Window Winder—essentially an electric hand that spins the crank for you. The concept carries his signature humor, but the build is serious: 3D-printed components, a silicone cast of a hand, a motor unit, and large buttons to set the rotation in the desired direction. The outcome is a manual window that behaves almost like a power unit, only with an external gadget doing the work.

It’s important to note this isn’t a product for sale: Benedetto says he doesn’t plan to commercialize it. The idea does highlight something larger, though: Slate Truck looks poised to become fertile ground for customization. The company is already emphasizing personalization, so expect DIY solutions and small-scale tuning projects to spring up around the vehicle. In practice, ecosystems like that tend to thrive around straightforward, affordable platforms.

As specified so far, the Slate Truck will offer 52.7 or 84.3 kWh batteries with an estimated range of about 240 or 380 km. Production in Indiana could start in 2026, with deliveries targeted for late 2026.