Slate Truck Motorcycle Hauler: Fit, Loaded Range & Real Limits

The Slate Auto Blank Slate compact EV pickup, teased in April 2025 with a $20,000 price after a $7,500 federal EV tax credit, offers two battery packs: a 52.7 kWh unit rated for 150 miles and an 84.3 kWh version good for 240 miles. Slate’s own EPA-estimated range sits at 205 miles, but real-world highway cruising will sap that figure quickly.

The truck’s payload tops out at 1,550 lbs, and its bed measures 60.5 inches with the tailgate up. Drop the tailgate and you gain 20.2 inches of flat load space, stretching the usable bed length to 80.7 inches.

The bed is 59 inches wide at the wheel-well tops and narrows to 43.9 inches between the wheel wells. For dirt bikes, the Slate’s 80.7-inch bed with tailgate down can swallow even the longest MX machine—Ducati’s Desmo450 MX, with an 87-inch overall length and a 72.5-inch rear-axle-to-front-knobby distance, leaves over 8 inches of clearance.

Superbikes like the Ducati Panigale V4 (58.5-inch wheelbase, 70.3-inch rear-axle-to-front-tire distance) fit nose-in with the rear wheel resting about 10 inches onto the tailgate; the Panigale’s 190 lbs on the rear wheel shouldn’t stress the tailgate, though dynamic loads from rough roads could. A Honda Gold Wing, however, pushes the limits: its 67-inch wheelbase and 79.5-inch front-tire-to-rear-axle length nearly max out the Slate’s 80.7-inch bed/tailgate combo, and the 575 lbs of bike hanging off the tailgate risks exceeding the tailgate’s capacity—Ford’s Maverick tailgate is rated at 500 lbs, and Slate hasn’t released its own rating yet.

Two dirt bikes should fit side by side thanks to the Slate’s 59-inch top width and 43.9-inch wheel-well gap, but two Panigale V4s will test the tailgate’s weight limit. With no cabin storage behind the seats, two riders’ gear bags must ride in the bed—doable, but awkward in bad weather or sketchy parking.

Highway range is the EV’s Achilles’ heel: Slate claims 205 miles on its combined EPA cycle, but steady highway speeds erase regen gains, leaving only modest range recovery.