So here's a fun story about how the electric vehicle world keeps getting more interesting. There's this company called Slate Auto that wants to sell you a basic electric pickup truck for less than $30,000. They haven't actually sold anything yet, but they've already raised $700 million. Oh, and one of their biggest backers is Jeff Bezos. Now, they're making a CEO switch, and guess where the new guy comes from? If you guessed Amazon, you're starting to see the pattern.

Slate announced that Peter Faricy is taking over as CEO, replacing Christine Barman, who is moving to the role of president of Vehicles. This is according to reports. Faricy's background is a mix of consulting and venture capital, but the really relevant part is his 12-year stint at Amazon from 2006 to 2018. For nine of those years, he was the vice president of Amazon Marketplace. You know, the platform that basically taught the world how to run an online marketplace. Before Amazon, he even spent a few years at Ford Motor Co (F) as an executive director.

"Peter's experience building Amazon Marketplace was really critical for us," a Slate spokesperson told TechCrunch. That makes sense. If you're trying to build a new kind of vehicle company, having someone who helped build one of the most successful e-commerce platforms in history is probably a good call.

But the Amazon connection doesn't stop there. It's like a mini-Amazon alumni reunion over at Slate. Former Amazon executive Diego Piacentini is also an investor. The company's co-founder is Jeff Wilke, who was the CEO of Amazon's worldwide consumer business. And members of Slate's mobility, commerce, fleet sales, and HR teams also have Amazon on their resumes. Bezos isn't involved in the day-to-day, but his influence—and the influence of his former company—is all over this startup.

So, what's next? The CEO change comes as Slate is gearing up to actually launch its truck. They have over 160,000 reservations, which is up from 150,000 in December. The plan is to start deliveries later this year. They've said they'll share pricing details in June, with the base model aiming for the mid-$20,000 range. That's a seriously low price for an electric pickup.

And the market might be ready for it. The electric pickup space is still figuring itself out. Tesla Inc's (TSLA) Cybertruck hasn't exactly taken the world by storm, and Elon Musk's lofty production goals turned out to be unnecessary. A temporary price cut did spike demand, but the starting price is back up to nearly $70,000. Over at Ford, they ended production of the F-150 Lightning, which was the bestselling EV pickup in the U.S. last year. Ford is now working on a midsize pickup truck targeting the $30,000 range, but that's not expected until 2027.

That leaves a window. If Slate can actually start delivering trucks this year with a base price under $30,000 and an expected range of 150 miles or more, they could see some serious initial demand. It's a classic startup bet: disrupt a market by being simpler and cheaper. And they're betting that having a bunch of people who helped build Amazon's empire is the right team to pull it off. We'll see if the truck, and the strategy, actually roll out.