Slate Auto, the EV startup backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has replaced its chief executive less than a year before the planned launch of its low-cost electric truck.
The company is bringing in a former Amazon executive to lead Slate through the production and sales kick-off.
Peter Faricy assumed the role of chief executive on Monday, the company confirmed, replacing Christine Barman, who becomes president of vehicles.
Faricy’s Background
Faricy spent more than 12 years at Amazon, serving as VP of Amazon Marketplace from 2009 to 2018 and earlier as VP of Music and Movies.
He subsequently became CEO of Global Direct-to-Consumer at Discovery Inc, before serving as Chairman and CEO of SunPower Corporation, the solar energy company, from 2021 to 2024.
Most recently he held senior advisory roles at McKinsey & Company and Bessemer Venture Partners.
He also spent three years as an Executive Director at Ford Motor Company early in his career, giving him rare exposure to both the automotive and consumer marketplace worlds that Slate sits at the intersection of.
Barman, a veteran of Chrysler who was Slate‘s first hire, had been the public face of the company since it emerged from stealth in April 2025 and was one of only two women running a US automaker.
Critical Year
The reshuffle comes as Slate prepares to convert roughly 160,000 refundable reservations into binding vehicle orders by the end of the year.
Faricy was chosen for his experience scaling consumer marketplace businesses rather than traditional automotive credentials.
“Slate was built with an obsessive, heads-down focus on reinventing the vehicle by rethinking the product from the ground up,” co-founder William Barker said in a statement to Newsweek.
“As we enter the next phase, with customers soon able to customize, order and buy their Slate, this is exactly the right moment for Peter to join. He is a pioneer of marketplace businesses and a highly strategic leader.”
Slate is currently focused on establishing its commercial infrastructure which includes dealer-free distribution, aftermarket partnerships and a direct-to-consumer sales model.
The company said it is already engaging with potential aftermarket parts suppliers and aims to have 4,000 service providers onboarded by the time the first truck reaches customers.
Slate‘s truck is a minimalist two-door electric pickup with a single rear-mounted 150-kilowatt motor, rear-wheel drive and no built-in infotainment system — a deliberate cost-cutting choice the company says keeps prices down and avoids obsolescence.
It can be converted into an SUV through post-production customisation. The company has raised approximately $700 million from Bezos and other backers.
The starting price, originally promoted as under $20,000, has been revised upward to the mid-$20,000 range after Congress and the Trump administration eliminated the federal EV tax credit last September.
Slate will sell exclusively in the United States when orders open in late 2026, and has said Canada is not currently on its roadmap.
