The worst-kept secret in the electric vehicle world is officially out. Last week, in what has so far been a rare disclosure of its finances, EV startup Slate not only revealed the extent of its backing, but the identities of its biggest financiers. And sure enough, the headliner is Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, by way of his management firm, Bezos Expeditions. Through a combination of Series A and Series B funding, Newsweek reports, the company is sitting on $700 million.
That’s a fat chunk of change, to be sure, but car companies are stunningly expensive to launch. At one point, Lordstown Motors had hundreds of millions in backing and was valued at $5 billion. Today? Not so much. Bollinger started with $150 million in backing and has been circling the drain for years, having tossed out its plans to build consumer cars years ago—even after a buyout from Mullen Automotive.
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