The US Department of State is planning to spend $400m buying new Tesla armoured vehicles, even as the carmaker’s boss Elon Musk leads efforts to slash government spending under president Donald Trump.
Musk’s stake in Tesla accounts for the bulk of his $383bn wealth, but his rocket company, SpaceX, is the most important contractor providing space launch services to the US government.
The same procurement document contained entries for an “armoured sedan” and “armoured EV (not sedan)” made by unnamed manufacturers, plus “armoured BMW X5/X7”.
A procurement forecast produced by the department showed the $400m (£320m) proposed spending on “armoured Tesla (production units)”.
Plan raises possibility of more conflicts of interest for Elon Musk as he leads efforts to slash government spending.
