THE US government is reportedly planning to buy buffed-up “Armoured” Tesla EVs worth $400million from Donald Trump’s best pal Elon Musk.
The Department of State released a procurement forecast list which mentions a five-year contract – reportedly the biggest of 2025 – that could fall into Musk’s lap.
The initial version of the document released in December included an item called “Armored Tesla” with a five-year contract starting in 2025.
However, the document was revised to remove the mention of Tesla Inc. after reports emerged about it on Wednesday.
It now simply says $400 million worth of “armoured electric vehicles”.
The contract is due to be finalized by the end of the year and is currently in the “planning” phase.
However, given Trump and Musk’s newly forged bromance, one can expect Tesla to land the deal.
While no specific car model has been announced yet, the huge government order is most likely to be for Tesla Cybertrucks, which can cost almost $100,000 with full specifications.
Musk, who is known to be a huge fan of military and defence equipment, said in 2020: “I just wanted to make a futuristic battle tank, something that looked like it came out of Blade Runner or Aliens.”
Although, Musk replied to a post on X saying: “I’m pretty sure Tesla isn’t getting $400M. No one mentioned it to me, at least.”
Many state police departments have already added the futuristic truck to their fleet, some even splashing up to $150,000 to upgrade it into a “Robocop”.
Musk also deployed Cybertrucks across Los Angeles to act as power hubs and battery banks during the ongoing wildfire mayhem.
Billionaire tech tycoon Musk is leading Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as the “secretary of cost-cutting”.
He has been tasked by the US president to gut federal government spending across all departments.
However, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office this week, the Tesla boss insisted there would be no “conflict of interest” if his billion-dollar companies received government contracts from the same agencies where he is looking to axe spending.
He said: “You have to look at the individual contract.
“If you see any contract where it was awarded to SpaceX and it wasn’t by far the best value for the taxpayer, let me know – because every one of them was.”
Musk’s SpaceX was awarded a $39 million defense contract just days ago.
Source : https://www.the-sun.com/motors/13532812/us-400million-armored-tesla/
