Slate Auto's Gotion Battery Swap Creates Indiana Supplier Risk for Warsaw Facilities

Slate Auto's Warsaw plant now has more than 180,000 reservations for its $24,950 Slate Truck, but the company quietly dropped SK On NMC battery chemistry and sourced LFP cells from Gotion's Illinois facility instead, cutting battery costs roughly 40% and extending range from 150 to 205 miles. Gotion is a Hefei-based company; the House Select Committee on the CCP raised national security concerns about Gotion's Michigan manufacturing project in 2023, and that Congressional exposure has not been resolved.

For Warsaw-area suppliers, the operative question isn't whether Slate ships trucks. It's whether a Congressional action or Commerce Department review targeting Gotion forces a mid-production re-sourcing, and what a 6-to-12-month production pause costs your facility.