U.S. Government May Award Tesla $400M Contract for Armored EVs

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Just don't

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>The agreement is expected to span five years, marking a substantial investment in EVs for government use and a significant development for electric vehicle (EV) adoption within government agencies. >The procurement forecast which identifies Tesla as the supplier for this armored vehicle contract was revised in December 2024 under President Biden.

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banana republics have more tact than this

But electric vehicles for the rest of us are woke…

lol

This makes more sense than the Darkwing Duck USPS vehicles

The imagery of Cybertrucks with mounted machine guns from a few months back looked cool AF. I'm curious to see what Tesla would do with a pure focus on function rather than form

Implemented under Biden. Reading is hard.

average redditor

You realize the Biden administration awarded the contract, correct?

I know it's difficult to fact check but here is the original [source](https://www.state.gov/procurement-forecast?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email). December of 2024, under Biden.

Following the link in the article to the procurement forecast shows the cybertrucks are being purchased under "311999 - All Other Miscellaneous Food Manufacturing". Very interesting. [https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.state.gov%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F01%2FFY25-Procurement-Forecast.xlsx&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK](https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.state.gov%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F01%2FFY25-Procurement-Forecast.xlsx&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK) Cell U22

I've been looking at this, because it's weird. Two rows down is "Armored BMW", which is listed as bottled water. I feel like this document isn't set up right. Or corruption beyond Tesla

It also awards a contract for armored BMW X5/7s lol very interesting

I don’t see how people can think this ok. What happened to cutting spending?

This made me chuckle, even though I am a Cybertruck fan. Take my upvote

This is a dumb idea. Are they all going to have range extenders? The range on armored ones will be very low.

It was implemented by Biden, we’re good! I love Tesla!

I actually was wondering when this was going to happen. Tesla is all American and EVs would be perfect, especially a reinforced Cybertruck, to haul the weight of some of the secret service spec’d vehicles. Typically these vehicles don’t need to go far just need to haul from destination to heliport / airport ASAP.

Yep that’s the guvernant rate lol.

So this was a biden era deal. Defense procurement is also not buying off the shelf vehicles. They will have higher requirements and additions. They aren't just buying cts.

But will DOGE look at it with the same scrutiny

Guys the more embedded Tesla gets with government contracts the better the stock price

So this was a biden era contract. The defense dept is always procuring because it is always drmo-ing vehicles, i.e. taking them out because they're old, etc. They have to be replaced, and they sell a lot of old stuff, too. Vehicles don't last forever.

Unsure. But similar to SpaceX I expect Tesla to be the most attractive government contractor in the sector.

And bananas are better at fact checking!

This was a Biden program.

They dont need to go far. Like the white house to Dulles International Airport is only 30 miles. They can have chargers at the white house and the airport.

Exactly . If Biden awarded this to Rivian, DOGE would have canceled it and called “waste of tax payers money”

That thing is embarrassing, like purposely made debase the USPS.

I want one.

It’s actually just TDS

Pure function over form? So basically all their vehicles other than the cybertruck.

> marking a substantial investment in EVs for government use and a significant development for electric vehicle (EV) adoption within government agencies. I think the policy of moving towards all government procured vehicles being EV would have been a more significant development, but of course that has now been cancelled.

It’s still not good that the person in charge of auditing government spending also runs and has ownership in companies receiving government contracts.

sounds like waste and fraud to me

I wish he would just concentrate on running Tesla and SpaceX. They are both great companies that make great products and all the X and Political stuff is reducing his ability to lead them.

I understand all of those things. I’m speaking specifically about the categorization of the purchase.

Yeah but what happens when it rains a tenth of an inch and they’re all bricked.

Definitely corruption beyond Tesla. Not sure why I’m being downvoted.

It is part of a bunch of different cars in the fleet. Also done under Biden administration.

Secy

Because it doesn't fit the greater narrative

It's was a competitive bid, Tesla came in with the best price.

Also the contract has not actually been awarded yet. > Tesla is named as the recipient of the largest projected contract, with an anticipated award date of September 30, 2025.

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Lol what? These cars can drive through deeper water than regular ICE cars

The oligarchs aren't even pretending anymore. Now they just buy favors right out in the open. And the moronic electorate bends over further and begs for more.

of course they will. I'm surprised it's only 400M

Supercharger for the White House!!

Tesla is all American? lol the biggest Tesla factory is in China….how is that all American?

The biggest Tesla factory isn't the one US Tesla gets their cars from. Tesla US cars are very largely sourced from North America, including a lot of the battery material used coming from NA, and their percentage trumps many other domestic automakers. This is from NHTSA data in the link below, Model 3/Y are 70% from US/Canada and S/X are 65%/60% from US/Canada. Compare that to a Ford Escape which is 36% US/Canada or 45% for the F150. https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/2024-10/MY2025-AALA-Alphabetical-10.30.24.pdf You can still criticize Tesla for many other issues with their cars/service/etc, of course.

Your ignorance is showing

Done under Bidens watch. Calm your fat tits

Tell me you can’t read without telling me you can’t read …

Sounds like a conflict of interest to me

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Bidens were an oligarch ? Huh… the more you know

But money to expand charging infrastructure has been cancelled. I guess the government will charge them In their garages overnight?

Someone’s got to start buying more of these!

Don’t forget abuse

Cybertruck is made in America along with all the other Teslas. Try again.

Iv seen a bunch of armored Mercedes Benz and BMWs when I worked at an auto auction in central Florida. Now these vehicles, my dealer, bought to use as personnel cars because they were so damn heavy and they were used by foreign ambassadors to use in the states. So he collected them and sold them to friends as time went on. No doubt Cadillac has vehicles the government is currently using, but I wouldn't see it as totally abnormal to look for newer options in the future.

Wutttt that’s sick! Could you easily tell that car was armored? Like any dead giveaways?

Heavy as shit is the first one. Then floor plates, then thinner plates in the doors.

Heavy as shit is the first one. Then floor plates, then thinner plates in the doors.

Interesting that’s a pretty cool experience! I google some pictures of them and so cool all the stuff that goes into it lol. I’m in the military and I wish our rides were as nice as the ones I saw online 😂

All the parts that make up a Tesla are not from the U.S. it is build here though. The supply chain might run into some extra costs.

And with a competitive bidding process.

**Can someone please provide some logic as to where in a combat zone we are supposed to recharge our Tesla for approximately 3 hours? There aren’t superchargers in combat zones** Many combat zones don’t even have electricity, for crying out loud…

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It's weird- if you check the page/document now that item says "Armored Electric Vehicles" and that it was edited today. The only item with a 2025 modified date. You'd think someone trying to cover something up wouldn't leave the most obvious evidence of meddling. Or it's not a cover up, and a sabotage to muddy the alibi. Also, the top three documents on that link are edited by "Julio C. Chavez," who was a boxer from Mexico. Hard to make a definitive call at what is going on.

Well, the military armored vehicles in the US are also used by the police force……

But what will they do if they are in the water, and there's a shark.

I could certainly see where an EV fleet (Tesla or otherwise) could be quite useful. * Situations where you need silence (police raids?) * Areas where ICE vehicles could struggle, wild fires for example. * If suitably water tight, deep wading * Use within cities where range isn't a concern, but emissions are. For example police patrols where they are just scouting around the city or loitering for ages with their engines running for all the equipment and to keep the occupants cool * Emergency situations where access to power is limited. Like the Lightning, you have immediate access to a huge battery at grid voltage. - emergency lighting, pumps etc? I suspect there are a ton of other use cases. Sure you can adapt ICE, but it's good to have a mixture. I also wonder if EV would be a better long term owing to the significantly reduced servicing needs - I know here police cars are constantly being maintained by onsite mechanics.

Why do you think these will for combat zones instead of ferrying vips around domestically or in cities ?

You know Biden isn’t the president anymore right?

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this contract was awarded under the Biden admin

Biden didn't have the richest man who owned companies tied in to hundreds of millions in government contracts heading a department of government efficiency making even more contracts.

It was revised not awarded under Biden

Sad that this is actually a legitimate question.

Cybertruck is 65% american made [Source](https://www.autoevolution.com/news/tesla-cybertruck-is-officially-the-most-american-made-pickup-truck-227082.html#:~:text=Tesla%20Cybertruck%20Officially%20the%20Most%20American%2DMade%20Pickup%20Truck,-3%20Jan%202024&text=A%20quick%20look%20at%20the,in%20the%20US%20and%20Canada)

Tesla is a very vertically integrated company. You are correct in that all of the parts for a Tesla do not come entirely from America, however, there are companies which have reviewed part sourcing and such and they've determined that *most* of the parts for Teslas come from America, resulting in Tesla vehicles being the most American made vehicle. [The Model Y, for example](https://www.cars.com/american-made-index/) holds the number one spot for being "Most American made car", while the S and X aren't too far behind it. Not sure where the Cybertruck is, but they might not have checked it out during 2024. Point is that they're more American than you're trying to imply.

The cybertruck is an objectively shitty truck.

You think hiding manual door releases is “function over form”?

The largest factory may be in Shanghai, but that's to avoid tariffs and such. A large part of the idea behind tariffs/import taxes is that you want to encourage companies to do business in your country by discouraging them from shipping from elsewhere. So, Tesla has a factory in China because it makes things cheaper for the people in that region to buy a Tesla. The cars made in China don't end up in North America, *unless* it makes economic sense for them to, as was the case with the Shanghai Teslas ending up in Canada not too long ago. The EV tax credit, for example, encourages EV manufacturers to source parts and such in the United States by offering $3,750 in credits for *assembling* the battery in the US, and another $3,750 if more than 50% of the materials to make the battery come from the US. The incentive there is for Tesla to keep as much stateside as possible, which they do. So, Teslas sold in the US *are* more American than those sold in China, and the Chinese Teslas don't come to America because it's cheaper to just use the American made ones. Recommend reading up on things so you stop spreading misinformation.

Haha it’s only ok because Biden did it.

Good point. You’re absolutely right on that.

I seriously doubt riding a massive pack of lithium ion batteries into a wildfire is particularly safe.

Doesn’t matter. He has a conflict of interest. Potentially being in charge of the contract your companies hold is a conflict of interest, and it doesn’t matter if the job or contract came first.

Tell me you don’t understand anti-corruption laws without telling me you don’t understand anti-corruption laws. It doesn’t matter if the job or contract came first - you still have to divest control to avoid the appearance of corruption.

None of these are supposed to be for combat zones. Military has contracts on utilizing various forms of non-gasoline engines in the future, but nothing has panned out yet. Combat zones also don’t have oil. Logistics is key here. There was a proposed JVAC vehicle (contract dead, but interesting concept at the time) for swappable battery packs that would be transported to and from FOBs in combat zones, similar to fuel trucks supplying fuel.

It doesn’t matter if the contract or job came first, you still have to divest your stocks to avoid conflict of interest.

It doesn’t matter if the contract or job came first, it is still a conflict of interest requiring divestment or recusal.

But DOGE is cutting all wasteful spending so he will definitely cut this program, won't he guys??

It doesn’t matter if the job or contract came first, it is still a conflict of interest requiring divestment or recusal.

It is absurd to suggest that it is all kosher so long as the contracts with conflicts of interest existed before you got the job - that would fundamentally undermine anti-corruption practices. Could you imagine if a judge said, “Well, I was best friends and married to the defendants sister before I was elected a judge, so I can still oversee this trial.”

Appointing someone to oversee their own contracts is as corrupt as someone awarding themselves contracts. It is that simple.

So if a judge was married to the plaintiff in a civil case against you it isn’t a conflict of interest so long as they were married before he was a judge?

The bullet divots would be my first clue

The problem with people is not fact checking. Read how Biden's administration ignored Tesla and to masquerade corruption from UAW since the automotive bailout. Older millennial here and there's corruption from both sides. Still dealing with shit even now.

That’s pretty disingenuous. Most ice engines just need a snorkel for air intake, but a submerged electric car has a pretty good chance of catching on fire.

waiting humorous bow cake edge six continue dog ghost friendly *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev/home)*

Most combat zones don't have gas stations either, but somehow they make it work. Hm....maybe the military has figured out how to do logistics and supply.

Irrelevant as Canada will soon be part of the US

Not in my lifetime, kid

> Recommend reading up on things so you stop spreading misinformation. They don't want to stop spreading misinformation though.

That is... not accurate. But you seem to have a willful desire to not have your opinion changed.

seems wasteful

Leave the door closed?

ICE needs an aftermarket attachment, Tesla's are designed to be water proof

But at least they have 500+ miles of range

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Exactly, lol

Can't be overly worse than a tank of gas being exposed to a heat source. At least with a Lipo pack you've got active cooling.

Sounds right, not implying it’s not made in America, but noting that parts that are not made in America can be impacted by a price hike in the chain.

Or, maybe the BMW X5 is actually a bottle of water

Yes, however, the research out there already demonstrates that *of the American companies that make vehicles*, Tesla makes the "most American" vehicles. Stems largely from Ford, GM, etc, outsourcing some manufacturing to Canada/Mexico via NAFTA agreements and such. Tesla, on the other hand, does as much within the United States as possible. They're not 100% American made, just "More than the others"

Wouldn’t fortifying these to become more “Armored” significantly affect the range?

The amount of people who don't understand how tariffs work is astounding. It's insane that you are allowed to vote.

Interesting how you think that way. Teslas are the most made in America vehicles there are. Even more incentives to make it more in America. Of course pain will be felt in the short term thats ok.

They did award it, in December

I imagine the use case would be wherever you need a pickup or tiny APC. Electric shit has logical battle application, it’s quiet and doesn’t emit fumes. As for charging, hot swap battery pack was part of the early Tesla vision and eminently logical here. What I really can’t stand is the likelihood of seeing military and military-esque hardware on civilian forces, I think it’s terrible to go from Officer Friendly to TACTICAL OPERATOR

Having redundant motors and a huge battery pack that shields you form underneath? EVs sorta make sense as VIP-taxis.

Makes sense to me. I feel like the instant acceleration/torque to get out of situations combined with how quite they are add some nice benefits too

How so? This was a deal setup under Biden.

This was under Biden lol. Stop letting media brainwash you

Source? Easy enough. Who else bid?

It was not cancelled. They just took the identifier off it so it would no longer say “ Tesla.”

Basically all of the contracts that are being cancelled by DOGE were done under Biden. They didn’t cancel this. They just hid that it was with TESLA.

And? DOGE cutting "fraud and wastage" and not this because it serves his interest.

Right, because there isn't a problem with EV fires after floods. Definitely no recent records of major floods within the past half year.

Water resistant. You're not fording some river outside Dollywood in a tesla. I'm all for ev adoption, but it is absurd to suggest they are anywhere near as reliable when in marine settings.

If a hot tank of gas was as dangerous as a lithium ion battery fire, then we wouldn't have fire departments panicking over EV fires.

Why would there be tariffs? Tesla is an American company.

Ya and I don’t think the military is gonna have an issue finding electricity in 2025

We couldn't even get electric mail vans even though that was a perfect use case scenario for 98% of mail delivery.

As far as I know that plan is officially in place still. Who knows what will happen but it isn't dead yet.

It's not dead dead, just crippled. Original RFQ called for 90% BEV but in the end they cut it down to 10% BEV to save $2B. 90% BEV would save them more than $2B in the long run but they couldn't handle the sticker shock.

Yes, you can choose to apply whatever motivation you like to it. Mostly they have been cutting DEI initiatives across the government and USAID programs. As far as I know they haven't really cut any other contacts of this sort.

The ~~2023~~ 2022 Inflation Reduction Act increased the number of EVs the USPS was planning to buy with an extra $3B in funding. The USPS still says that they are planning about 2/3 of their total new vehicles to be EV. > In December 2022, USPS announced plans to acquire 106,000 new vehicles, including at least 66,000 battery electric delivery vehicles. This includes 45,000 battery electric NGDVs and another 21,000 commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) battery electric vehicles. https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2024/1030-usps-headquarters-showcases-new-next-generation-delivery-vehicle.htm

I didn't catch that, that's great to see!

Yeah, it makes a ton of sense for most delivery routes. Fingers crossed this doesn't get torn up like so many other things have been. The USPS and their budget is at least somewhat insulated from the executive branch.

Let’s just stick to gas or diesel… or let’s step up and take the next step and move to hydrogen.

Look at the current government, their connections, and their lack of qualifications. Conflict of interest is the running theme

Crony capitalism.

Good. Why not choose the best?

Really impressive calling someone disingenuous when you're claiming the risks of leaving a car submerged in saltwater are the same as driving through some standing water on a road. I stand by my previous statement: you seem to have a willful desire to not have your opinion changed.

Freshwater floods cause ev fires too, kid.

Can't be grabbing for the "all american" label anymore, sorry. Nothing patriotic about what that CEO did on national TV. Ramcharger would be a much better platform anyway.

And once again, the person was talking about driving. Not having a vehicle flooded. Sustained salt water immersion is the highest risk, which I would assume you were trying to imply based on your claim of the vehicle having “a pretty good chance of catching fire” after flooding.

I mean, there have been dozens of reports of them bricking in car washes.

just 400M?? that’s peanuts now. look at federal funding for military and police or tesla’a market cap. won’t move a needle

It’s good to give them a challenge. Keeps them match fit as we say in Europe

Really moving the goal posts there, kid.

Peanuts.

It says” 90% in North America, including 65% in the US and Canada”. So that would mean 25% is made in Mexico, right?

Your joke doesn’t change the facts, kid.

That was my take. Just don’t know why the lumping of US and CA

Your attempts at baiting me are pretty poor, and if that's sarcasm, well you're not very good at it - kid

Why are you avoiding the topic, kid?

Yeah, no

From what I’ve seen the Cybertruck appears to be comically bad at doing actual truck things, and in this context why a truck in the first place?

Blame Biden bro. This was his genius idea.

That contact was during the previous administration

I think we all know why...

Too bad the cyber trucks are complete garbage

I, for one, would love for all of the police to use Teslas instead of sitting on the side of the road idling and burning gasoline 24/7. Imagine how green our states would be if the police were using EVs. It would also push for EV charging stations at every rest stop.

Yes. Government employees should walk or ride the bus.

Yeah. Just buy 'em a backpack and tell 'em to hoof it.

Hey! No facts please!   /s

Dadblamn Biden wanting electric vehicles. 😡

I agree. Buy them skateboards.

Where did you get your crystal balls?  Ever think they might need some vehicles?

Yes. It does.

Wrong

No.

Yes

I buy steel for a living....know what every domestic steel and aluminum supplier has done in the past 3 weeks? If you guessed raise prices at least twice you'd be correct. Hmmmm what do cars have a lot of?

Couple reasons. First, not every tesla part is manufactured in the US. Especially if you go all the way back to raw materials. Second, know what domestic suppliers do when there's a 25% tariffs? They raise prices 24%

Yeah, all those cars sitting on a lot can be sold first.

Conflict of interest case law is very straight forward.

Why does the government need so many armored vehicles? 🤔🤔 The conspiracy theorist in me is jumping.

What if the combat zone is the USA? 🤔

If there's an uprising against the Oligarchy perhaps?

"**The State Department said Thursday it is abandoning plans of purchasing $400 million worth of armored Tesla vehicles** " Yes it was canceled.

Source please. Thank you.

NPR, just cut what I posted above and paste into Google and search, it will come up.

Everything is woke unless conservatives are doing it. Then it's TRUE AMERICAN PATRIOT

Can you give me a link. I can't find one and I'm try to smash some Democrats right now but I guess Google still hates us.

You can see the future! Yes it was cut lmao

Many police use hybrids Ford Explorers, plug I’ve seen police Mach E’s now too (NYC has a bunch)