Nine months after Baltimore’s spending board approved a request to purchase up to $5 million worth of Tesla electric vehicles for use by municipal employees, the Scott administration has yet to buy its first Tesla and has no plans to do so.
City Comptroller Bill Henry posted on social media this week that Baltimore’s Department of General Services hasn’t ordered any Teslas to add to the city’s fleet, even though Baltimore’s Board of Estimates authorized the purchase last June.
“The Department of General Services was directed not to actually use the contract back in September of last year,” Henry wrote on Facebook. “It hasn’t been formally cancelled, but we are not buying any Teslas, and we never did. “
Henry was commenting on an article in Baltimore Fishbowl that the city’s procurement office recommended Tesla as its first choice to provide electric vehicles for use by administrative employees. The company, headed by Elon Musk, was one of two that responded to a request for bids from carmakers that would like to supply “EV Passenger Cars/Sedans” to the city, in keeping with Zero-Emission Vehicles legislation that was passed by the City Council in 2023 and requires the purchase of electric vehicles for all light duty administrative needs by 2030.
Baltimore has been purchasing electric vehicles since 2018. The 2024 solicitation called for the recommended company to provide up to $5 million worth of them. Tesla, based in Austin, Texas, proposed to supply two models, Tesla Model 3 and Tesla Model Y, with various trim packages.
The contract approved by the Board of Estimates allows the city to purchase between 147 and 158 Tesla vehicles, depending on the starting price and mix of configurations. The starting price for the Model Y vehicles was $31,490 and the starting price for the Model 3 vehicles was $33,990. The period of the purchase agreement was from June 5, 2024 to June 4, 2027, with a renewal clause that potentially extends the end date for purchasing Tesla vehicles from June 4, 2027 to June 4, 2029.
The only other bidder was Waldorf Ford in Charles County. It offered to supply five-passenger Ford Mustang Mach-E models, which are classified as Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV). According to an explanation provided to the Board of Estimates, “Waldorf bid [to provide] electric Mustangs, which are considered SUVs and are not needed. Thus, the award is recommended to be made to Tesla to supply EV Passenger Cars/Sedans.” The Tesla Model Y is considered a compact SUV, but Tesla’s bid wasn’t rejected.
Musk emerges
Baltimore’s purchase was authorized around the same time that Musk was emerging as a key backer of Donald Trump in his campaign to become the 47th President of the United States. He officially endorsed Trump for president in July of 2024 and had a lengthy conversation with him on his social media platform, X, in August.
The five-member spending board approved the purchase request with no discussion, as part of the routine agenda for its meeting on June 5. It was the first time the board voted to buy Teslas. In addition to Henry, the board included Mayor Brandon Scott; then-City Council president Nick Mosby; City Solicitor Ebony Thompson and then-acting Department of Public Works Director Khalil Zaied, who was sworn in as director last October.
At the time, the vote was one of the largest potential orders of Tesla vehicles ever made by an American city. It came after several cities in California had purchased Teslas for use as police vehicles. After the Baltimore Fishbowl article appeared, news of the potential purchase was picked up by numerous trade publications and websites that cover electric vehicles in general and Teslas in particular.
“Tesla chosen over Ford for $5 million Baltimore City EV fleet,” said a headline in teslarati.com. “Tesla (TSLA) secures $5 million EV order from Baltimore City,” wrote electrek.com. “Tesla scores a $5 million order from Baltimore for a fleet of EVs,” said chargedevs.com.
Constituent complaints
Locally, news of Baltimore’s decision to buy Teslas drew a mixed response on social media last summer, with some commenters saying they support the city’s efforts to buy electric vehicles regardless of the brand and others arguing that city funds shouldn’t be used to support Musk’s business ventures. According to employees, the city received numerous constituent inquiries and complaints about the vote to buy Teslas, from residents who don’t want their tax dollars benefiting Musk.
“I can understand the logic of considering electric vehicles,” argued the author of one letter that ran in The Baltimore Sun. “What I cannot understand is lining the pockets of Elon Musk, someone who has no respect for Black people and couldn’t care less about the plight of inner cities. Does the board not care about the character of their business partners?”
Since then, Trump was elected president, after Musk reportedly provided more than $230 million of his own funds to support his campaign. Musk, without leaving Tesla, was named a “special government employee” working with the president’s Department of Government Efficiency and has become a central figure in the administration’s efforts to slash federal agencies. Many of DOGE’s decisions have been unpopular, especially its moves to cut jobs and programs, but Trump has continued to praise the work Musk is doing.
Vandalizing Cybertrucks
Musk and his Teslas have been the subject of protests from Americans who don’t support his actions on behalf of the Trump administration. Americans have rallied at Tesla dealerships around the country, including the one on Reisterstown Road in Baltimore County, and vandalized Tesla Cybertrucks at events such as this week’s Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans.
Henry didn’t say in his Facebook post why DGS was instructed not to use the procurement contract to buy Teslas after it was approved. According to materials prepared in conjunction with the 2024 contract, the $5 million figure represents contract capacity, not a spending obligation, and there was no commitment to utilize the full amount or any portion of it.
Henry said in his post that the city has continued to buy electric vehicles, including Fords, through other contracts that remain in effect.
Instead of buying Teslas, he said, “we have continued to use the previous contracts and, ironically, have been purchasing mostly Ford Mach-Es.”
John Riggin, Communications Manager for DGS, said in an email message that the contract with Tesla “was paused during the week of September 16, 2024, at the direction of the Mayor’s Office because we decided to go in a different direction. The array of electric vehicle options eligible for the City of Baltimore’s Fleet continues to grow. DGS has purchased electric vehicles from Ford Motor Company and General Motors, and we continue to evaluate offerings from a variety of manufacturers.”
“the $5 million figure represents contract capacity, not a spending obligation, and there was no commitment to utilize the full amount or any portion of it”
Glad there doesn’t seem to be a legal hook for Tesla to argue over here.
I was heartened to read that Tesla is getting the cold shoulder by Baltimore re the purchase of Teslas–we need to quash all connection to this man–the cars are not even proving to be safe in many cases–and NEITHER IS MUSK!! thanks– A Roy
Elon was a savior when he was “saving the planet” with his EVs. Suddenly the hypocrite liberals hate him. Hmmm. How peculiar. So saving the planet is not the actual goal? Please explain.