What do you get when you want a vehicle that can drive through a cartel hit on the mean streets of Mexico, but want to be carbon neutral and hip at all the Cabo clubs?
You get this weirdly cool Tesla Model X, modified and up-armored by Centur Security.
Based in a country known for kidnappings and targeted hits on elected officials and wealthy citizens who cross the wrong people, Centur Security has made a name for itself modifying SUVs for VIPs.
Typically, their portfolio includes vehicles currently popular and well-regarded in the protection game, including Chevy Suburbans, GMC Yukons, and even more upscale rides from companies like BMW, Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz.
Now with a growing market for Tesla's all-electric vehicles, Centur has positioned itself as the first company in Mexico to offer an up-armored version of Tesla's Model X CUV (crossover utility vehicle).
At a first glance, the modifications to the vehicle are almost completely unnoticeable, allowing the X to retain the same styling and design cues it rolled off its Californian factory floors with.
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In fact, you’re barely able to tell that the car’s been customized and armored at all, even when inside the vehicle — making it an unwelcome surprise to would-be hitmen and assassins who might find their intended target silently gliding through a hailstorm of small arms fire.
Bulletproof windows and windshields, reinforced armored doors and paneling, protective casing around the car's fuel cells and motors, and run-flat tires round off the list of Centur's upgrades to the Model X.
Tesla vehicles are already at a disadvantage when it comes to range, and the X only hits around 295 miles on a full charge. Adding heavy armor to the X does reduce the range by about 3-5%, according to Centur, but that's a smaller reduction than originally feared, thanks to the company using lighter materials in the armor package.
The company’s price tag to add on the 550 lb armor kit to the Model X over a 12-week period comes in at around $45,000... which is pretty much chump change if you’re in the market for a hardened vehicle and can afford the X itself, priced above USD $100,000 to $123,000.
Ian D’Costa is a correspondent with Gear Scout whose work has been featured with We Are The Mighty, The Aviationist, and Business Insider. An avid outdoorsman, Ian is also a guns and gear enthusiast.
