The Armormax Tesla Model S P100D is bulletproof, but by adding just 550 pounds, it allows the vehicle to perform normally.
Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk may or may not have hinted around that the Model S P100D is faster than a speeding bullet, but now thanks to International Armoring Corp., it doesn’t have to outrun the slug, it can stop it.
International Armoring and several other companies have been taking high-priced luxury vehicles, such as Mercedes-Benzes, BMWs, Cadillacs and more, for the well-heeled who have security concerns and adding ballistic protection and other security technologies for decades.
So it was only a matter of time before a Tesla found its way into the Ogden, Utah-based company’s hands. It has been armoring vehicles for 25 years.
The company clad the one of the fastest sedans in the world with high-tech Armormax, which is the lightest and strongest synthetic fiber laminate armoring in the world – weighing 80% less than traditional steel armor, according to International Armoring.
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IAC CEO Mark Burton told Electrek that the company had three main goals with this project:
- armor the entire passenger compartment to the perceived threat (High powered rifle)
- retain the original appearance
- retain the original performance
Burton said all three goals were met at a cost of $72,500, in addition to the $100,000-plus it costs to buy the Model S, and 650 labor hours later.
The Armormax-armored Tesla, which was produced for an unnamed customer in the Middle East, provides protection from high powered rifles, as well as high powered handguns. Perhaps more importantly, it does this using only 550 pounds of added armor weight.
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Standard armoring can add as much as 3,000 pounds to a vehicle, which can change the appearance of the vehicle slightly and definitively change its performance characteristics.
The Armormax-armored Tesla maintains its original appearance and almost all of its functionality, including its 0-to-60 mph time of 2.4 seconds, it could be much worse since it’s not wearing an additional 2,500 pounds of armor. The only thing it cannot do it roll down its windows, since they are now 2-inch thick bullet-proof glass.
The company says it is the first armored Tesla Model S P100D in the world and was armored 100% using Armormax proprietary lightweight molded armor, noting that no ballistic steel was used. The company said it has five more Model S projects waiting.
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IAC was founded in 1993 and is a leader in the design and production of the armored passenger vehicles having armored more than 9,000 vehicles, including cars, trucks, Popemobiles, tractors, Snowcats and other vehicles for 45 different world heads of state, as well as celebrities, sports figures, corporate executives and military leaders.