Configure at order the things that are hard or expensive to change later — body style, and any accessory you'd rather roll into financing. Add after delivery anything you can install yourself (Slate rates it Beginner or Moderate) or want to live with the truck before buying. When in doubt, wait.
Should you add accessories at order or after delivery?
Configure at order the things that change the truck you receive or that you’d rather finance; add after delivery anything you can install yourself and anything you want to try the truck without first. With 160k+ reservation holders being pushed into the “Design it Now” configurator, this is the single most-asked question in the community — and the honest answer is that most accessories can safely wait.
Slate’s own configurator tags every accessory with an install skill level — Beginner, Moderate, Advanced, or Professional. That rating is the fastest signal for this decision: a Beginner or Moderate item is usually a fine after-delivery add; an Advanced or Professional item is where paying for install (at order or later) starts to make sense.
The decision framework
Run every accessory through five questions, in order:
| Question | If YES → | If NO → |
|---|---|---|
| Does it change the vehicle I order (body style)? | Order now | Next question |
| Is it “coming soon” with no price yet? | Can’t order — wait | Next question |
| Do I want it rolled into financing vs. paid in cash? | Lean order now | Next question |
| Is Slate’s install rating Advanced/Professional? | Consider order-time install | Add later |
| Am I sure I want it, sight-unseen? | Either works | Add later, after you live with the truck |
The bias is deliberately toward waiting. You’ll know your truck — and what it’s missing — far better in month two than you do clicking through a configurator today.
What to order now
Your body style. This is the one genuine “decide at order” call. The Blank Slate truck ($24,950), Squareback SUV ($29,950), and Fastback SUV ($31,950) are different vehicles at order time. Slate does sell a bolt-on SUV kit to convert later, but ordering the configuration you want upfront is the cheaper path — see the SUV conversion breakdown for the full math.
Anything you specifically want financed. If you’re taking a loan, accessories added to the order can be rolled into it and spread across the term rather than paid upfront in cash. A $1,399.99 wheel set or a $1,229.90 roof platform is easier to absorb at $25/month than as a single post-delivery charge. The trade-off is interest over the life of the loan — you pay more in total. That’s a personal-finance call, not a fitment one.
Big-ticket “Professional” installs, maybe. Items Slate rates Professional — like the 17” and 20” wheel sets ($1,399.99) or the Level 2 wall charger ($479.00) — need real tools or an electrician. If you’d pay a shop anyway, doing it at order can save a separate trip. Just confirm whether the configurator price includes that install [VERIFY].
What to add later
Anything Slate rates Beginner or Moderate. These are the bolt-to-the-T-rail accessories the truck was designed around. A few examples straight from the configurator:
| Accessory | Price | Slate install rating |
|---|---|---|
| Frunk Cargo Hooks | $29.99 | Beginner |
| Door Cubby Organizers | $49.99 | Moderate |
| Center Console | $249.99 | Moderate |
| MOLLE Paneling Kit | $214.99 | Moderate |
| 2” Rear Hitch Receiver Kit | $99.99 | Moderate |
| All-Weather Floor Liner (Front) | $59.99 | Beginner |
None of these change the truck you order, all mount to factory points, and every one is something you can buy the week you actually need it. Waiting costs you nothing but a few days of shipping.
Anything “coming soon.” Several configurator items — the Open Air Kit, the Lift and Lowering Kits, the Tablet Mount, Audio-Friendly Dash Panels — are listed without prices as of our last catalog capture. You can’t meaningfully budget or order these yet, so they’re add-later by default. We track status changes in the accessory price database.
Anything you’re not sure about. Wraps, decals, lighting themes, interior trim — the taste-driven stuff. Live with the bare graphite composite for a month before you commit $499.99 to a full wrap. Reversible, personal decisions are exactly what “add later” is for.
Before you finalize an order, run your build through the Build Calculator — it totals everything and shows how much of your 1,550 lb payload each accessory spends. That payload meter catches over-configured builds before you pay for them.
The two things Slate hasn’t confirmed yet
Be honest with yourself about the unknowns, because they change the math:
- Whether configurator prices include installation. Slate support has said details come “closer to production.” Until that’s confirmed, treat listed prices as parts-only [VERIFY].
- Whether some accessories are factory-install-only. Most appear to be owner-installable, but Slate hasn’t published a definitive list of which items must be added at the factory [VERIFY].
Both of these push the same direction: when the rules aren’t final, don’t over-commit at order. You can almost always add later; you can’t always un-buy.
How financing changes the call
The strongest real argument for ordering accessories now is financing. Rolling a $214.99 MOLLE kit, a $349.99 running board set, and a $249.99 console into the loan turns ~$815 upfront into a few dollars a month. If cash flow at delivery matters more to you than total interest paid, order-now wins — for the items you’re certain about.
If you’d pay cash either way, there’s almost no downside to waiting, and one real upside: you buy against the truck in your driveway, not a render on a screen.
FAQ-style quick calls
- Wheels/tires ($999.99–$1,399.99, Professional): order-time if financing or you want them on day one; otherwise later.
- MOLLE + bed storage (Moderate): later — easy DIY, see bed storage.
- Hitch ($99.99, Moderate): later, unless you’re towing from delivery day. See towing.
- Wrap ($499.99+, Advanced): later — it’s the most reversible taste decision you’ll make.
- Body style: now. Always now.