So when it comes to EV FUD, we’ve all heard ad nauseam about ultra niche use cases like towing heavy RVs for hundreds of miles without stopping, or driving off-road into the Alaskan wilderness, etc, and somehow that means EVs are useless, blah blah blah.
But I was chatting with a fellow EV owning friend today and realized that there’s another overlooked use case that, while very much niche, can be important for optics – cars for high ranking government officials, like the president/prime minister of a major world power, or a state governor in the US.
Right now most of these politicians, even the ones pushing pro-EV policies, are driven around in armoured gas guzzling SUVs like the Range Rover or Chevy Suburban, or armoured gas guzzling luxury sedans like the V12 versions of the BMW 7-series and Mercedes S-class. And of course there’s the famous “Beast” limo used by American presidents. Wikipedia even compiles a list of all such vehicles used around the world: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official\_state\_car](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_state_car) From this article, I can see that even hybrids have almost zero presence! The leaders of Denmark and Norway are driven in EVs, but those don’t appear to be armoured.
According to my friend, this gives off a “rules for thee but not for me” vibe that just fuels more anti-EV FUD. And it is a good point IMO. I’m 100% for phasing out pure ICE vehicles but it does look hypocritical for leaders to push such policies while being chauffeured around in a V8 or V12 powered tank.
A quick google search reveals that BMW just launched the “[i7 Protection](https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1140460_armored-bmw-i7-takes-bulletproof-cars-into-electric-era)”, so it seems like EVs can indeed be armoured, albeit with a heavy range penalty. But government motorcades generally don’t go on hours-long road trips so I doubt the range matters as much as it would for normal people.
Interested to hear others’ thoughts on this. Do you think it’s long overdue for presidential motorcades to get electrified?
by tm3_to_ev6
10 Comments
I agree. But I think the problem is that O&G is so deep into their efforts at lobbying and buying out politicians that they’d go nuts before allowing a politician to be seen in an EV.
With an EVs power source and motors hidden so well deep under, an EV limo is arguably even more protected than an ICE one.
The priority is not safety, it’s maximizing O&G profits. That’s the only thing anyone cares about anymore.
Classic example of overthinking a non issue.
EV’s already weigh several tons from the batteries. Add in armor to that and tires won’t be able to be used. It will need tank tracks.
The beast which is used by the president already weighs 9300 pounds. That’s almost 5 tons. Add in EV batteries to that and you have something that will crack concrete when it drives over it.
>Do you think it’s long overdue for presidential motorcades to get electrified?
not really a major concern given how customized they are… nobody looks to those cars to “set a standard”
nobody needs that kind of standard except other heads of state (unless you’re infantry in a combat zone)
>A quick google search reveals that BMW just launched the “[i7 Protection](https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1140460_armored-bmw-i7-takes-bulletproof-cars-into-electric-era)”
armor is not the only thing they put on the car. it’s a small armored personnel carrier without big guns sticking out all over the place…. they buy a limo.. then throw away everything but the body panels. it only looks like Cadillac.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_state_car_(United_States)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_state_car_(United_States))
…..the 2009–2018 state car had five-inch (130 mm) [bulletproof glass](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletproof_glass) and was [hermetically sealed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermetic_seal) with its own environmental system. The current model of presidential state car is a unique [Cadillac](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac) that debuted in September 2018.
**Decommissioned presidential state cars are dismantled and destroyed with the assistance of the Secret Service to prevent their secrets from being known to outside parties.** Late 20th-century and 21st-century presidential [motorcades](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorcade) have consisted of 24–45 vehicles other than the presidential state car, including vehicles for security, healthcare, the press, and route-clearing, among others.
>so it seems like EVs can indeed be armoured, albeit with a heavy range penalty.
if they really wanted to they could electrify.
high uptime (fixing utilities).
high power (running the tools and the crane).
remote conditions (high tension wires out next to the highway)
highly self sufficient..
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This is probably one of the few legitimate uses for the cybertruck.
Perhaps the politicians should act in ways that negates the need for armoured vehicles.
Honestly, an EV would make a better protection vehicle. Super higb torque and horsepower, better for quick acceleration and escape.
Limited range is not a concern, when was the last time Biden drove more than 50mi, it doesn’t happen. Anything longer is almost always helo. You can hit 300mi range in a large vehicle, just throw batteries at it, see the Hummer EV.
Almost everywhere has electricity. Any prepared site (airport) will have high power available. All you need is adapters or maybe a transformer.
The reason they haven’t gone electric is those vehicles are extremely expensive and long-lead to develop. The next US limo may be electric, but I doubt it’ll debut until 2030 or later.
With all the armor weighing tons, then add the batteries, the range would be rather short. While most of the routes are short (airport to location to location to airport) and planned out, I’m sure they have extraordinary scenarios accounted for in the required specs. Stuff like “being chased by terrorists at high speed over an extended distance” where even 200 miles wouldn’t be enough, especially if that range was being burned quickly by high speed driving, rapid deceleration/acceleration, etc.
in the US,federal government vehicles are exempt from emissions standards.
There at least 2 companies that will armor Teslas. [Alpine Co](https://www.alpineco.com/vehicles-we-armor/271-Sedan-Tesla-Model-S-) and [Armor Max](https://armormax.com/armored-cars/brand/tesla/) That being said, it’s all going to come down to the requirements each state’s security arm requires for a presidential motorcade and the cost/benefit. Sure “the beast” could be an EV, with either minimal range or a humongous additional ( battery) weight. ( At a sky high price) .