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The automotive press is abuzz with news that the automotive marketplace Carvana has been considering — or has already made — an investment in the Jeff Bezos-backed EV maker Slate Auto. Carvana is best known for its used car business, so the interest in Slate is rather interesting, considering that Slate does not have any used cars on the market. The startup doesn’t even have any new cars on the market, for that matter. So, what’s going on?
Many Used EVs Are Coming
Carvana launched in 2012 to apply the white-hot e-commerce field to used car transactions. The online-only platform included a healthy touch of human to its business model, though. Instead of promising that its cars would drive themselves from a dealer lot to the buyer’s door, the Carvana package includes home delivery the old fashioned way, via truck.
The company’s Car Vending Machine also engaged customers with human people while lending a futuristic swagger to the experience of picking up one’s car in person.
