US State Dept walks back purported $400 mn Tesla contract

Washington: The US State Department backtracked Thursday on a document saying it would award $400 million for electric armored cars by Tesla, whose ch...

Washington: The US State Department backtracked Thursday on a document saying it would award $400 million for electric armored cars by Tesla, whose chief Elon Musk has been aggressively slashing government spending on behalf of President Donald Trump.

Despite the denial, the share price of Tesla, the main source of the fortune of the world's richest person Musk, was up more than four percent in morning tade, well outpacing the broader market.

A State Department forecast on procurements, published regularly for years as part of transparency efforts, said it expected to buy the Tesla armored vehicles over five years for use by US embassies.

After several media outlets reported on a Tesla contract, the language on the online document was altered to read simply "armored electric vehicles" without specifying the automaker.

The State Department said the mention of Tesla was in error as it had been the only company that had responded to an initial public message to solicit interest, which takes place before the actual bid.