Shocked! That’s how U.S. makers of electric buses say they feel, following a decision by the transit authority of Long Beach, Calif., to buy 10 electric buses made in China–but financed by U.S. taxpayers.

The contract, worth more than $12 million, was awarded in April by a 5-2 vote of Long Beach Transit’s board of directors.

Ebus, a U.S. maker based in Downey, Calif., protested the decision. The company, one of four losing domestic bidders, complained that the terms of the competition had been changed at the last minute in a way that favored the winner, China-based BYD.

Andy Eklov, owner of Ebus, tells the Long Beach Press-Telegram that Long Beach originally asked for buses capable of being re-charged periodically during daily use, rather than overnight in one longer session. The change, he contends, worked in BYD’s favor.

That’s not true, Long Beach’s transit marketing manager, Kevin Lee, responds. Regarding re-charging intervals and many other particulars, he tells the Telegram, “We left it up to the companies to decide what they thought the best solution for Long Beach Transit [would be]. In the end, BYD had the best solution for us. The BYD option made the most sense.”

Micheal Austin, a BYD vice president, tells ABC News that what tipped the procurement decision, he thinks, was the ability of BYD’s buses to re-charge in a single overnight charge of 4-5 hours. “That was unique,” he tells ABC. “The others had smaller batteries and needed in-route charging.”

The contract commits Long Beach to pay $12.1 million for 10 buses, plus $2 million for the design and construction of a charging facility, according to the Wall St. Journal.

BYD, in which Warren Buffett is an investor, has manufactured 1,000 electric buses, most of which operate in China. A small number operate in Europe and South America. At the time of its winning bid, it had no operational production facility in the U.S. The company subsequently has announced plans to assemble Long Beach’s buses at a former RV-facility in Lancaster, Calif.

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