Tesla is working hard to get the Cybertruck approved for sale in Canada, according to a company executive who provided an update on the status of the Cybertruck’s expansion north of the border.
Tesla began deliveries of the Cybertruck in the US late last year, starting off with Texas, then California, and now in many states across the country. Production and deliveries are still of the “limited” Foundation Series Cybertrucks, that carry a $20,000 premium over the “standard” Cybertrucks that are expected to start production later this year.
Whether Canadians will get a chance to buy a Foundation Series Cybertruck remains to be seen, as customers north of the border have not yet been invited to configure and finalize their orders as the Cybertruck is not approved for sale by Transport Canada.
When that will happen is unclear, but according to Rohan Patel, Tesla’s Vice President of Public Policy and Business Development, his team is working hard to get it accomplished soon.
In a post on X over the weekend, Patel said there has been a “wild amount of interest” in the Cybertruck from Canada, and asked for patience from Canadians as they worked through the regulatory paperwork with authorities, adding that they have been “super reasonable.”
In an earlier post on X, Patel had said that he hoped this paperwork will “wrapped up soon.”
@cybertruck team is gonna make this happen, and is working on the regulatory paperwork and submissions. Canadian authorities have been super reasonable, so I’m very optimistic. The CT is gonna be a huge hit in Canada as we can see from the wild amount of interest. Please…
— Rohan Patel (@rohanspatel) March 9, 2024
Drive Tesla has reached out to Transport Canada for an update on the status of the Cybertruck’s approval, but we were told to contact Tesla for information about certification of their vehicles to meet Canadian requirements.
How quickly Tesla is able to get the Cybertruck approved for sale in Canada is important as it will have a big impact on how soon we will see the first deliveries. That is because the company is almost sold out of their 2024 production capacity, according to an update during the Q4 2023 earnings call in January.
If Tesla sells out of their 2024 allocation before it is approved for sale in Canada, we won’t see the Cybertruck until early 2025 at the earliest. For many that might not be a bad thing as it will give Tesla time to “work out the kinks” in production and deliver a more refined product in Canada.