With its new pickup, Slate Auto is making a simple bet: price matters more than almost anything else. The company announced today that the American-made electric truck will start at $24,950, placing it squarely in the mid-$20,000 price range it had originally promised and making it the least expensive pickup truck and EV available today. At a time when the average new vehicle costs nearly twice that amount, Slate is pitching something that has become increasingly rare in the modern auto market: a genuinely basic new vehicle that doesn’t look that way.

To hit that price point, Slate stripped away features many drivers now take for granted. The truck doesn’t come with a touchscreen, stereo, or even speakers. Instead, it includes a dash mount for your phone. The windows use manual hand cranks. And unlike many new vehicles marketed around increasingly autonomous features, a Slate requires you to do all the driving yourself.

The timing may be right. The average new vehicle sold for $49,220 in May, according to data from Cox Automotive — a price that’s been heading ever upward. Small and midsize pickups averaged $43,044, while new EVs averaged $54,532. Slate’s truck is even cheaper than the average used vehicle, which goes for $26,918. Its closest pickup competitor, the Ford Maverick, starts at around $30,000, while the Chevrolet Bolt EV begins at roughly $29,000.

For decades, automakers have competed to add more features, bigger screens, and increasingly sophisticated software. Slate is doing the opposite. The company believes at least some buyers would rather have a cheaper truck than a premium sound system, massive infotainment display, or suite of driver-assistance technologies.