President Joe Biden in March announced an infrastructure plan that earmarked $174 billion to support the electrification of the nation's fleet—and that extends right up to his own presidential limo, referred to as the Beast.
During a press conference last week aboard Air Force One, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said an electric Beast was an objective of the Biden administration.
“That’s certainly something the president has talked about and is an objective for him,” she said.
Biden has previously expressed a desire to replace the government’s fleet of roughly 650,000 vehicles with electric models, so it's not surprising to hear that an electric Beast is on his wishlist. We even imagined an electric Beast built by Tesla as far back as 2014.
President Joe Biden
There could be some clear advantages. Having a separate drive unit at each axle could enable the vehicle to continue driving even if one drive unit fails or is damaged during an attack, which wouldn't be the case for a single internal-combustion engine like in the current Beast
The space savings from electric motors versus a gas engine would also allow for more armoring in the same space. Reinforcing and filling the frunk with additional supports would make it even more resistant to a front-collision than gas vehicles.
Of course there are downsides, too. An electric Beast would need to have a big battery to protect. Range and charging could also be an issue, especially when time constraints are present.
The Secret Service, which is responsible for the Beast, probably have some time to find solutions to the issues. That's because a new Beast was only introduced in 2018, midway during the previous Trump administration. Like its predecessor, it was developed by General Motors on the basis of a truck platform and features styling inspired by modern Cadillacs.
