Today is October 1, 2024, which means a new playground for electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers selling their Chinese-made EVs in Canada. Starting today, Canada is imposing a 100% tariff and eliminating the federal $5,000 rebate on electric vehicles (EVs) built in China.
These measures were imposed after the US and Europe took similar action to reduce reliance on Chinese imports and bolster local production, but it raised concerns over potential price hikes for Tesla, which currently imports the Model 3 and Model Y from Giga Shanghai into Canada.
While many were expecting Tesla to adjust its pricing in response to the hefty tariff, much like it did in Europe earlier this year, with the company even posting a warning ahead of the price hike, there have been no changes to Model 3 and Model Y pricing in Canada, according to a review of the online configurator by Drive Tesla.
As expected, Transport Canada’s website now lists the import versions of the Model 3 and Model Y as no longer eligible for the federal rebate as of October 1, 2024. (Interestingly, the 2023 Model 3 and Model Y LR import versions are still eligible, but this is likely because Tesla no longer sells these.)
However, despite these changes, Tesla’s website still shows the Model 3 Rear-Wheel Drive (RWD) and Long Range, and all three variants of the Model Y, as eligible for the rebate.
With no price hikes and the continued eligibility for the $5,000 rebate, this likely means Tesla is changing its logistics to no longer import vehicles from its Gigafactory in Shanghai, and has instead gone back to relying on their US production to supply the Canadian market.
Previously Tesla only shipped cars from the Fremont factory, reserving production at Giga Texas for the US market. By sourcing vehicles from Fremont, and potentially Giga Texas for the first time, Tesla can effectively bypass the Canadian tariff, avoiding additional costs for consumers while keeping its vehicles competitively priced.
For Canadian customers that were waiting on the sideline to see how Tesla would respond, there have been no officially announced changes, at least for now. Although as we mentioned, it appears as though Tesla has shifted to supplying Canada with US-made cars to avoid the tariff.
We will be keeping an eye on Tesla’s pricing and let you know if anything changes.
