Tesla launched the new Model 3 last week in China and several other markets where vehicles built at Giga Shanghai are exported to, but strangely missing from that list was Canada. While Tesla has not officially announced why Canada was excluded, we are learning more about how much longer North Americans will have to wait to receive the refreshed Model 3.
Soon after the launch on Friday, Drive Tesla was first to report that Project Highland would not be making an appearance in North America this year. This was based on internal communication to some Tesla staff, a copy of which was shared with us, that explained the delay, but did not provide a specific date for when it would launch in Canada or the US, except that it wouldn’t be until 2024.
UPDATE: Bad news for Canadian 🇨🇦 and US 🇺🇸customers
According to a source the new Model 3 will not be available in North America this year. https://t.co/Q2qpUL2peX
— Drive Tesla 🇨🇦 (@DriveTeslaca) September 1, 2023
Since then we have learned more information about why there has been a delay, and there are a few reasons.
Perhaps the biggest are differing regional requirements that will likely require small changes between those cars destined for China and Europe and those for Canada and the US. This is something that was hinted at in the internal communication, which spoke to “differences between vehicles built at different locations.” Unfortunately we don’t know what those differences might end up being, but we doubt they will be anything that will substantially change the look and feel of the car once it arrives on North American shores.
Another suspected reason for the delay is crash testing that hasn’t been completed yet, but will be soon. According to third-party companion app Teslascope (@Teslascope), who has previously provided reliable information on Project Highland, these tests should be performed before the end of October.
All of this translates into a potential launch in North America in early 2024, based on everything mentioned above (and likely more) going smoothly. For Canada that will mean imports from Giga Shanghai, but for US buyers that will mean upgrades to Fremont’s Model 3 production lines, which will reportedly be completed by the end of September. Again if everything goes smoothly.
While it was disappointing to be left out of the release of the new Model 3, we at least now have a rough timeline of when we can expect to see it land in North America.
Were you holding out on purchasing a Model 3 with the expectation it was going to be released last week? Will you wait now that it won’t be coming until next year? Let us know in the comments below.
