Latest news with #ArmoredTesla
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Unpacking claims about $400M 'armored Tesla' State Department contract
In February 2025, a rumor spread online that the U.S. Department of State planned a $400 million contract to buy "armored Teslas," which would benefit Elon Musk, the car company's CEO and adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump. A Democratic U.S. representative from Texas, Greg Casar, claimed on X that Trump and Musk tried to "funnel $400 million" to Tesla, but were caught and attempted to cover it up. It is true that the State Department, at one point, published a procurement plan for $400 million worth of "armored Tesla." After news reports broke about the plan, however, the department replaced "armored Tesla" with "armored electric vehicles" in the document before removing the $400 million contract entirely. A State Department official denied that the agency awarded any contract to Tesla and said the plan began under former President Joe Biden. But reporting from NPR, verified by Snopes, determined the Biden administration's finalized plan involved buying just $483,000 in armored electric vehicles — not $400 million — and $3 million in related equipment. Thus, the document suggests it is not true that plans for a $400 million contract with Tesla began under the Biden administration. In February 2025, rumors spread online about a purported $400 million U.S. Department of State contract for "armored Teslas" — which Elon Musk, the car company's CEO and adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, would benefit from. Social media users on X and Facebook said Musk was "on track" to win a $400 million State Department contract for armored Teslas, with one person describing it as "the kind of waste and abuse we wanted to stop." "Donald Trump's State Department tried to funnel $400 million to Elon Musk's Tesla. They got caught. Then they lied about it. This isn't efficiency -- it's corruption," said Texas-based Democratic U.S. Rep. Greg Casar in an X post with over 80,000 likes as of this writing (a similar post from Casar also received tens of thousands of likes). Musk responded: "Greg Casar is a big fat liar." Some Snopes readers asked whether the State Department had already awarded Tesla a contract, while others asked whether the department's purported contract was for Tesla Cybertrucks, a electric truck with a divisive design. It is true that the State Department published a plan for fiscal year 2025, which runs from Oct. 1, 2024, to Sept. 30, 2025, that included a potential procurement of $400 million worth of "Armored Tesla" vehicles. However, after news reports broke about the pending possible contract, the State Department changed the language to "armored electric vehicles." Later, the department removed all mention of the $400 million contract. The State Department under Trump said it had no contract with Tesla and claimed the plan began under former President Joe Biden. A document obtained by NPR — and verified by Snopes — suggested otherwise. "Where the $400M came from is still a mystery," NPR's reporter, Bobby Allyn, said via Signal DM. Musk also said on X — before NPR's reporting published — that he was "pretty sure" Tesla did not have a $400 million contract with the government, and if the company did, "no one mentioned it" to him. The State Department did not respond to a request for updated comment after NPR's story published. Tesla did not respond to a request for comment as of this writing. It is unclear whether an "armored Tesla" refers to a Cybertruck, and the plan did not specify which Tesla model would be procured. As noted by The New York Times, however, "the electric Cybertruck, which has a body of high-strength stainless steel, would be the most suitable vehicle." Musk has called the Cybertruck "bulletproof" and "the finest in apocalypse technology." Tesla often attempts to demonstrate the Cybertruck's durability, including by shooting bullets at it and throwing a metal ball at it — although that demonstration resulted in shattered glass. On Feb. 12, 2025, DropSiteNews first reported that the State Department's procurement forecast for fiscal year 2025 "lists Tesla as the recipient of the largest expected contract, with [Secretary of State] Marco Rubio's department planning to buy $400,000,000 worth of 'Armored Tesla.'" DropSiteNews is an independent news site founded by former reporters at The Intercept, a left-leaning media publication. (The State Department releases an annual procurement forecast for potential contract opportunities that "small and small disadvantaged firms" may be able to perform under a federal law — the Business Opportunity Development Reform Act of 1988 — which is meant to give small businesses a better shot at government contracts.) As DropSiteNews reported, the document's title said it was "revised" in December 2024, a month after Trump won the election and as former President Joe Biden's term was coming to an end. However, NPR reported that the document does not appear on the Internet Archive for that month; the archived page as of this writing displayed a "request blocked" error page. Following the publication of the DropSiteNews story and reports from NPR, The New York Times and other mainstream media outlets, the department replaced the mention of "armored Tesla" vehicles with "armored electric vehicles" in its procurement forecast and later removed any mention of the $400 million contract entirely. The earlier version of the document — which was publicly available before the agency updated its website — had been published by Time magazine and can be seen here, which aligned with a copy provided by DropSiteNews reporter Ryan Grim. The top horizontal section above, according to the U.S. Department of State, shows the initial plan to procure units of "Armored Tesla," the middle section shows the original North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code, the bottom left section shows the Department of State was planning the procurement and the bottom right section shows the planned cost of the procurement — $400 million. As of this writing, the spreadsheet referenced above (found by clicking on "**NEW** Department of State Procurement Forecast Year 2025" at this link) no longer contained a reference to any armored Teslas. As Time noted, the version of the document mentioning "armored Tesla" vehicles listed the planned procurement under NAICS Code 311999 (as seen in the screenshot above), an industry code for miscellaneous food manufacturing. When the document was updated to read "armored electric vehicles," the code was changed to NAICS Code 561613 for "Armored Car Services" before the procurement in question was removed entirely. Multiple reputable news sites, including NPR and Time, said the document was updated at 9:12 p.m. on Feb. 12; however, it was not possible to independently verify this. Speaking via email, a State Department official denied the agency had awarded a contract "to Tesla or any other vehicle manufacturer to produce armored electric vehicles" nor did Trump's administration plan on awarding such a contract. The official confirmed that the document did at one point refer to Teslas, but "it should have been entered into the system as a generic entry 'electric vehicle manufacturer.'" According to the State Department, the Biden administration "asked the Department of State to explore interest from private companies to produce armored electric vehicles." In response, the department released a public request for information on armored electric vehicles "to solicit interest" and "received interest from only one company at that time": Tesla, which responded on May 31, 2024. The official said the next step in this process would be "an official solicitation," where vehicle manufacturers would bid for a contract. However, Trump's administration put the solicitation on hold, and "there are no current plans to issue it." Then on Feb. 24, 2025, NPR reported that it obtained a State Department document undercutting the Trump administration's claims. This document detailed that under Biden, the department's finalized plan set aside "just $483,000 in the 2025 fiscal year on buying electric vehicles and $3 million for supporting equipment, like charging stations." NPR shared relevant portions of the document with Snopes to verify the authenticity of its reporting. The $483,000 was for light-duty — not specifically Tesla — electric vehicles. It did include a request for more information about armored electric vehicles from Tesla, but the request had no dollar figure. Thus, the document suggests it is not true that the proposal to do $400 million dollars worth of business with Tesla began under Biden's administration. The Biden administration's public request for information on armored electric vehicles, released in April 2024, is available here. The government's description of the request is below (emphasis theirs): The U.S. Department of State Division of Defensive Equipment and Armored Vehicles (DEAV) is seeking information related to requirements for the armoring of existing commercially available electric vehicles (EVs), the procurement of armored electric vehicles produced by the original equipment manufacturer, and U.S. companies capable of supplying armored electric vehicles. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. This RFI/SS is issued solely for information and planning purposes – it does not constitute a solicitation or a promise to issue a solicitation in the future. This request for information does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Furthermore, the Government is not seeking proposals. According to the request for information documents, the DEAV had, as of 2024, a fleet of more than 3,000 armored vehicles. It released this request for information in response to a Biden executive order that established sustainability goals for the federal government, including "acquiring Zero-Emission Vehicles (ZEV) for all medium and heavy-duty vehicle acquisitions by 2035. "While the order applies to an agency's activities located within the United States, the head of an agency may apply the order, to the extent practicable, to the activities located outside the United States," the agency's request for information said. Trump has revoked Biden's executive order. "About - Drop Site News." Accessed 14 Feb. 2025. Allyn, Bobby. "A New Document Undercuts Trump Admin's Denials about $400 Million Tesla Deal." NPR, 24 Feb. 2025, Accessed 26 Feb. 2025. --. "Trump Administration Set to Purchase $400 Million Worth of Armored Teslas." NPR, 13 Feb. 2025, Accessed 13 Feb. 2025. Ewing, Jack. "State Dept. Plans $400 Million Purchase of Armored Tesla Cybertrucks." The New York Times, 13 Feb. 2025, Accessed 14 Feb. 2025. "FedCenter - EO 14057." Accessed 13 Feb. 2025. "FY25-Procurement-Forecast." Dec. 2024, Accessed 14 Feb. 2025. Grim, Ryan. "'Armored Tesla' Forecast to Win $400 Million State Department Contract after Trump's Election, Government Document Shows." Drop Site News, 12 Feb. 2025, Accessed 14 Feb. 2025. Grim, Ryan, and Jack Poulson. "UPDATED: 'Armored Tesla' (Was) Forecast to Win $400 Million State Department Contract after Trump's Election." Drop Site News, 13 Feb. 2025, Accessed 14 Feb. 2025. Guzman, Chad de. "State Department Removes Tesla's Name from Planned $400M Contract amid Musk Scrutiny." TIME, Time, 13 Feb. 2025, Accessed 14 Feb. 2025. "Procurement Forecast - United States Department of State." United States Department of State, 13 Feb. 2025, Accessed 13 Feb. 2025. "Procurement Forecast - United States Department of State." 12 Feb. 2025, Accessed 14 Feb. 2025. " Accessed 13 Feb. 2025.
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
The truth about the Trump administration killing a $400 million Cybertruck deal
The Trump administration is spiking a plan to purchase $400 million in EVs in September, which many people assumed would be for armored Cybertrucks. This news comes after a document detailing federal contracts for fiscal year 2025 was made public. After this document was discovered, the State Department said it had no plans to fulfill any contract to purchase EVs from Tesla, even though the document listed Tesla by you believe government officials, the State Department was never pursuing Cybertrucks. The $400 million plan was made during the Biden administration in order to 'explore interest from private companies to produce armored electric vehicles,' a State Department official said late last week. In broad strokes, government contracts require a rigorous vetting process. First, companies express interest in being considered for the contract. Then, the government creates an 'official solicitation' for each company it would like to work with on the project. From there, companies present plans to the government, and the government selects a plan it feels fits the project's scope. According to the State Department, Tesla was the only company that expressed interest in this document publicly listed Tesla as the manufacturer selected, with one row noting 'Armored Tesla (Production Units)' and a valuation for the deal between $100 million and $500 million. On February 12, the document was quietly edited to remove all mention of Tesla. Elon Musk claimed on X that he was not aware of the deal, saying, 'I'm pretty sure Tesla isn't getting $400M. No one mentioned it to me, at least.' The State Department confirmed that specifying 'Tesla' on the spreadsheet was an error and suggested Tesla was listed because it was the only automaker to show interest in the armored vehicle contract. Speaking to Politifact, a State Department representative confirmed that Tesla was never selected for a government contract to deliver armored vehicles. The representative reminded everyone that former president Joe Biden signed an executive order in 2021 encouraging government agencies to purchase EVs whenever possible and that the former administration pursued an armored vehicle purchase plan. Tesla isn't the only automaker named on the sheet. BMW is (or was) also slated to deliver armored X5 and X7 SUVs to the government in a deal worth $20 million to $50 million. The government also planned or plans to purchase an 'Armored Sedan' and 'Armored EV (Not Sedan),' but no manufacturer is can only 'armchair quarterback' things at this point. Still, the point of contention here is that the spreadsheet only shows the government was planning to buy, or at least interested in, 'Armored Tesla' vehicles. We don't know if it specified truck-like vehicles, but given that there are more specific callouts for EVs elsewhere, it seems like a reasonable assumption. Furthermore, Tesla was the only company that showed any interest in this particular contract and, as such, was noted on the document as a placeholder of sorts. We suspect the same is true for BMW. We should also accept that many were outraged upon hearing about this deal because of Elon's current tampering with government affairs, particularly government spending. This struck us all as some handshake deal. The Cybertruck is also not as great a truck as it was supposed to be and has failed to live up to its hype. It doesn't make sense for it to be a State Department vehicle. Bad deals for bad vehicles will always cause outrage, and this one just surfaced at a particularly sensitive time in the United States. Luckily, the US government buying Cybertrucks doesn't seem to be a reality. We'll take an armored X7, though. That would be incredible. Love reading Autoblog? Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get exclusive articles, insider insights, and the latest updates delivered right to your inbox. Click here to sign up now!
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
What we know about claims State Department was set to buy $400M in 'armored Teslas'
In mid-February 2025, a rumor spread online that the U.S. Department of State planned to spend $400 million on "armored Teslas," a contract that Elon Musk, the car company's CEO and head of U.S. President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, would benefit from. Social media users on X and Facebook said Musk was "on track" to win a $400 million State Department contract for armored Teslas in 2025, with one person describing it as "the kind of waste and abuse we wanted to stop." Some Snopes readers asked us whether the State Department had already awarded Tesla a contract, while others asked whether the department's purported contract was for Tesla Cybertrucks, a electric truck with a divisive design. It is true that the State Department published a plan for fiscal year 2025, which runs from Oct. 1, 2024 to Sept. 30, 2025, that included a potential procurement of $400 million worth of "Armored Tesla" vehicles. The top section shows the initial plan to procure units of "Armored Tesla," the middle section shows the original NAICS code, the bottom left section shows the Department of State was planning the procurement and the bottom right section shows the planned cost of the procurement — $400 million (U.S. Department of State) However, as of this writing, the spreadsheet referenced above (found by clicking on "**NEW** Department of State Procurement Forecast Year 2025" at this link) no longer contains a reference to any armored Teslas. When it did contain a reference to armored Teslas, the document's title said it was "revised" in December 2024, a month after Trump won the election and as former President Joe Biden's term was coming to an end. (The State Department releases an annual procurement forecast for potential contract opportunities that "small and small disadvantaged firms" may be able to perform under a federal law — the Business Opportunity Development Reform Act of 1988 — which is meant to give small businesses a better shot at government contracts.) Speaking via email, a State Department official denied the agency had awarded a contract "to Tesla or any other vehicle manufacturer to produce armored electric vehicles," nor does Trump's administration plan on awarding such a contract. Musk said on X that he was "pretty sure" Tesla did not have a $400 million contract with the government, and if the company did, "no one mentioned it" to him. Tesla did not respond to a request for comment as of this writing. It is unclear whether an "armored Tesla" refers to a Cybertruck, and the plan did not specify which Tesla model would be procured. As noted by The New York Times, however, "the electric Cybertruck, which has a body of high-strength stainless steel, would be the most suitable vehicle." Musk has called the Cybertruck "bulletproof" and "the finest in apocalypse technology." Tesla often attempts to demonstrate the Cybertruck's durability, including by shooting bullets at it and throwing a metal ball at it — although that demonstration resulted in shattered glass. Outlined below is what's known about the State Department's procurement plan for armored electric vehicles. On Feb. 12, 2025, DropSiteNews first reported that the State Department's procurement forecast for fiscal year 2025 "lists Tesla as the recipient of the largest expected contract, with [Secretary of State] Marco Rubio's department planning to buy $400,000,000 worth of 'Armored Tesla.'" DropSiteNews is an independent news site founded by former reporters at The Intercept, a left-leaning media publication. Following the publication of the DropSiteNews story and reports from NPR, The New York Times and other mainstream media outlets, the department replaced the mention of "armored Tesla" vehicles with "armored electric vehicles" in its procurement forecast and later removed any mention of the $400 million contract entirely. The earlier version of the document — which was publicly available before the agency updated its website — has been published by Time magazine and can be seen here, which aligned with a copy provided by DropSiteNews reporter Ryan Grim. As Time noted, the version of the document mentioning "armored Tesla" vehicles listed the planned procurement under NAICS Code 311999 (as seen in the screenshot above), an industry code for miscellaneous food manufacturing. When the document was updated to read "armored electric vehicles," the code was changed to NAICS Code 561613 for "Armored Car Services" before the procurement in question was removed entirely. Multiple reputable news sites, including NPR and Time, said the document was updated at 9:12 p.m. on Feb. 12; however, it was not possible to independently verify this. The State Department official confirmed that the document did at one point refer to Teslas, but "it should have been entered into the system as a generic entry 'electric vehicle manufacturer.'" The State Department official said via email that the Biden administration "asked the Department of State to explore interest from private companies to produce armored electric vehicles." In response, the department released a public request for information on armored electric vehicles "to solicit interest" and "received interest from only one company at that time": Tesla, which responded on May 31, 2024. The official said the next step in this process would be "an official solicitation," where vehicle manufacturers would bid for a contract. However, Trump's administration put the solicitation on hold and "there are no current plans to issue it." The Biden administration's public request for information, released in April 2024, is available here. The government's description of the request is below (emphasis theirs): The U.S. Department of State Division of Defensive Equipment and Armored Vehicles (DEAV) is seeking information related to requirements for the armoring of existing commercially available electric vehicles (EVs), the procurement of armored electric vehicles produced by the original equipment manufacturer, and U.S. companies capable of supplying armored electric vehicles. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. This RFI/SS is issued solely for information and planning purposes – it does not constitute a solicitation or a promise to issue a solicitation in the future. This request for information does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Furthermore, the Government is not seeking proposals. According to the request for information documents, the DEAV had, as of 2024, a fleet of more than 3,000 armored vehicles. It released this request for information in response to a Biden executive order that established sustainability goals for the federal government, including "acquiring Zero-Emission Vehicles (ZEV) for all medium and heavy-duty vehicle acquisitions by 2035." "While the order applies to an agency's activities located within the United States, the head of an agency may apply the order, to the extent practicable, to the activities located outside the United States," the agency's request for information said. Trump has revoked Biden's executive order. "About - Drop Site News." Accessed 14 Feb. 2025. Allyn, Bobby. "Trump Administration Set to Purchase $400 Million Worth of Armored Teslas." NPR, 13 Feb. 2025, Accessed 13 Feb. 2025. Ewing, Jack. "State Dept. Plans $400 Million Purchase of Armored Tesla Cybertrucks." The New York Times, 13 Feb. 2025, Accessed 14 Feb. 2025. "FedCenter - EO 14057." Accessed 13 Feb. 2025. "FY25-Procurement-Forecast." Dec. 2024, Accessed 14 Feb. 2025. Grim, Ryan. "'Armored Tesla' Forecast to Win $400 Million State Department Contract after Trump's Election, Government Document Shows." Drop Site News, 12 Feb. 2025, Accessed 14 Feb. 2025. Grim, Ryan, and Jack Poulson. "UPDATED: 'Armored Tesla' (Was) Forecast to Win $400 Million State Department Contract after Trump's Election." Drop Site News, 13 Feb. 2025, Accessed 14 Feb. 2025. Guzman, Chad de. "State Department Removes Tesla's Name from Planned $400M Contract amid Musk Scrutiny." TIME, Time, 13 Feb. 2025, Accessed 14 Feb. 2025. "Procurement Forecast - United States Department of State." United States Department of State, 13 Feb. 2025, Accessed 13 Feb. 2025. "Procurement Forecast - United States Department of State." 12 Feb. 2025, Accessed 14 Feb. 2025. " Accessed 13 Feb. 2025.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
No, the State Department isn't paying Tesla $400M for armored Cybertrucks
Is billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, the face of President Donald Trump's effort to slash federal spending, really in line to receive a $400 million purchase order of armored Tesla vehicles from the State Department? A reader asked us about the possible contract for Musk, which was first reported by the outlet Drop Site and inspired a flurry of media coverage and social media attention, given Musk's dual roles as head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency and the CEO of electric vehicle maker Tesla. But in response to inquiries, the State Department told PolitiFact the idea had emerged from the Biden administration, and that it's now on ice. The discovery originated on a State Department spreadsheet of contractor bidding opportunities for 2025 that was released in December. One spreadsheet row said, "Armored Tesla (Production Units)" with a contract value between $100 million and $500 million. The spreadsheet was updated on Feb. 12 to remove any mention of Tesla from the line about armored electric vehicles. Musk already does a lot of business with the federal government. His companies, including SpaceX and Tesla, have received at least $15.4 billion in government contracts over the past decade, The New York Times reported. But on X, the social media platform Musk owns, he wrote Feb. 13, "I'm pretty sure Tesla isn't getting $400M. No one mentioned it to me, at least." In a statement to PolitiFact, the State Department confirmed Tesla isn't in store for that money. The department said the Biden administration had pursued the possible purchase. Biden had signed an executive order in 2021 encouraging government agencies to buy electric vehicles when possible. The department also said that specifying "Tesla" in the spreadsheet was an error. The statement said that only one company had responded to the offering, and that was Tesla, but that the spreadsheet should have cited a generic electric vehicle manufacturer rather than Tesla specifically, since it was open to any company. It described the bid solicitation as being on hold, with "no current plans to issue it." State Department spreadsheets, before and after, accessed Feb. 13, 2025 Drop Site, "'Armored Tesla' (was) forecast to win $400 million State Department contract after Trump's election," Feb. 12, 2025 Time magazine, "State Department Removes Tesla's Name From Planned $400M Contract Amid Musk Scrutiny," Feb. 13, 2025 New York Times, "State Dept. Suspends Plan to Buy Armored Teslas," Feb. 13, 2025 New York Times, "U.S. Agencies Fund, and Fight With, Elon Musk. A Trump Presidency Could Give Him Power Over Them," Oct 20, 2024 Elon Musk, X post, Feb. 13, 2025 State Department, statement to PolitiFact, Feb. 13, 2025 This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Does US have $400 million contract with Tesla for Cybertrucks? No.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tesla's Name Quietly Scrubbed From Forecast of $400M Federal Government Payday
Tesla's name was quietly scrubbed from a State Department forecast that had suggested Elon Musk's company was set to receive a $400 million payday. On Wednesday, the agency's 2025 fiscal procurement projection had highlighted plans to spend big with a five-year contract for 'Armored Tesla,' Drop Site News reported. Hours after the story published, though, the publicly visible spreadsheet was altered to remove Tesla's name. The line item now says that the contract will be for 'armored electric vehicles,' without specifying a particular supplier. The State Department did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast's request for comment on why the change was made. The switch-up was flagged by the author of the initial report, who suggested it was intended to conceal Tesla's involvement in a deal. 'After @DropSiteNews revealed Tesla was forecast to be given a $400 million contract for 'Armored Tesla,' the State Department altered its spreadsheet to obscure Tesla's role,' Ryan Grim wrote on X. 'Metadata shows the spreadsheet was revised several hours after our story published.' However, Fox News Digital reported on Thursday that a State Department spokesperson told the outlet that the initial line item was a mistake and that a deal had not been struck with any supplier yet. The initial report about the apparent sweetheart deal had sparked outcry from the left, as Musk has become an influential force in President Donald Trump's new administration, railing against government spending. As the head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, the world's richest man has leveled accusations of corruption, bias, and fraud against the federal bureaucracy—without supplying concrete evidence. Late Wednesday night, Musk wrote on X that he was 'pretty sure' that Tesla hadn't made a $400 million deal with the government. 'No one mentioned it to me, at least,' he added. Before Wednesday night, the line item featuring Tesla was last updated on Dec. 13, after Trump's election but before his inauguration. At an Oval Office press conference on Tuesday, Musk was pressed by reporters about potential conflicts of interest in his work at DOGE, given he is the billionaire owner of Tesla, SpaceX, and X. He dismissed the concerns outright. 'We actually are trying to be as transparent as possible,' Musk said. 'We post our actions to the DOGE handle on X and to the DOGE website. So all of our actions are maximally transparent.'
