A FEW specialised companies make armoured vehicles for some VIPs, royalty, oil-rich Arab sheiks and various heads of state around the world.
But the recent appearance of armoured Teslas and Rezvanis for everyday people is rapidly gaining pace in the US, where death by gun-toting mamas and papas involved in road rage incidents is surging at an alarming rate.
Gun Violence Archive’s database shows the number of road rage injuries and deaths involving guns has increased every year since 2018.
In that year, at least 70 road rage shooting deaths occurred in the US; in four years later the number doubled to 141 and at last count it shot up to 413, which translates to a person being shot and either injured or killed in a road rage incident every 16 hours.
While nearly every state had at least one victim from a road rage shooting, a significant disparity exists between states.
The five with the highest rate of people shot in road rage incidents are New Mexico, Arizona, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.
They make up only 8 percent of the US population but had 20 percent of road rage shooting victims.
Tesla started delivering its Cybertrucks last November and has since taken more than 2 million reservations – which could take up to four years to deliver.
Meanwhile, rival company Rezvani, the California-based makers of the Tank and Vengeance armoured vehicles say it’s not that hard to make a vehicle bullet resistant – as long as you have a very narrow definition of the word “bullet.”
They say the Tesla Cybertruck has a body made of stainless-steel sheet metal that is able to deflect small projectiles, such as 9mm bullets from a hand gun.
But as seen in a recent video, the electric pickup fared worse against more slightly more aggressive ordnance, and its windows were not bullet-resistant at all.
‘When facing down against .223-cal rifle shot, AK-47 ammo, and even 5.56 rounds, you want something a bit more sophisticated than a thick piece of steel,’ Rezvani says.
‘A steel exo-skeleton is not only heavy but can cause significant damage to other passenger vehicles on the road.’
By comparison, their Tank tactical off-road vehicle and Vengeance luxury full-size SUV are both made of bulletproof, lightweight composite body armour mounted behind the exterior sheet metal.
‘This lightweight material is rated up to B6 ballistic protection, meaning it can fend off everything from a .22 and a .357 Magnum to 7.62 machine gun fire and penetrator rounds,’ Rezvani says.
‘Better still, it actually absorbs those bullets, rather than deflecting them on a random, potentially dangerous trajectory.
‘Even Rezvani’s glass is bulletproof to the same standard as the body armour, providing passengers with total protection.’
Both the Tank and the Vengeance offer several levels of optional security, ranging from centre console safes and remote tyre inflators to the full-tilt ballistic protection.
At the top of the food chain are the Vengeance’s Military package and the Tank’s Military Edition trim level.
Both include B6 ballistic protection, bulletproof vests and helmets for all occupants, underbody explosive protection, a smoke screen system, run-flat tires, thermal night vision, reinforced suspension components, electrified door handles and electromagnetic pulse protection.
‘Admittedly, the US$60,990 Tesla Cybertruck is in a different price category than Rezvani’s military-inspired vehicles.
‘But if actual ballistic resistance is the claimed goal, then the Vengeance and Tank have the goods to back up their claims—from the top down.’
A comparison of the differences between Tesla’s “bulletproof” truck and the Tank and Vengeance, can be seen on the latest YouTube Shorts video on the Rezvani Motors channel – and its a safe bet that the highest number of viewers are from New Mexico, Arizona, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.
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