First look at a bulletproof Tesla Model X armored vehicle

Electric vehicles, especially Tesla’s vehicles, are not being left out when it comes to armored vehicles.

After a Model S earlier this year, we’ve now got a look at what could be the first Tesla Model X armored vehicle.

We heard a rumor that Tesla’s showroom in Mexico City was displaying a bulletproof Model X.

After some investigation, we tracked down Daniel Hernandez de Santiago from Centur Security, the company behind the project.

He told Electrek that they equipped the electric SUV with steel and Neoflex lightweight ballistic materials and they replaced the windows with a special lightweight bulletproof glass.

Here are a few pictures of Centur’s armored Tesla Model X:

The biggest issue with armor on vehicles, aside from the cost, is the weight. It’s generally fairly heavy and it affects efficiency and range significantly.

That’s regardless of the type of powertrain, but since people already have concerns about range when it comes to EVs, it can become a bigger issue with adding armor to a Model X.

Surprisingly, Daniel said that their modification added only 250kg (550 lbs) to the total weight. They say that it affects efficiency by about 3 to 5 percent.

Centur says that they offer the modification on request and it can take up to 12 weeks.

It’s not cheap. For the Model X with that level of protection, they say that the total cost (excluding the SUV and taxes) was $45,000 USD.

Apparently, Tesla vehicles are becoming somewhat popular as armored cars. Centur has done Model S vehicles before this new Model X and we previously reported on a U.S. company building a bulletproof Tesla Model S P100D. They claimed that they received a backlog of orders for it.