Probably.

I mean, we have no idea how much the Pelta costs right now, except to extrapolate based on its stats. If you extrapolate the Interdictor's cost based on just stats, you wouldn't expect it to cost 90/93, right? Part of the cost of the upgrades is baked into the ship's cost in the case of the Interdictor. This could well be the case with the Pelta too.

Though, I do have to agree that I'd rather have a small, cheap, more vulnerable force-multiplier ship than a big tough expensive one. More flexibility, better potential return on investment.

Actually based on stats I have it around 80-85. Comparing it to the af2

Edit: The interdictor

But there is no way to know the cost of upgrade slots

My guess is it will be only Speed 2, which will keep the cost down.