Tesla has announced the new Model Y Long Range Rear-Wheel Drive (RWD) and existing Model Y Performance are not currently eligible for the federal iZEV rebate. This is only temporary however, and should not have a big impact if you are waiting for delivery of either model.
At the start of the month the Canadian government imposed a new 100% tariff and removed the federal rebate on Chinese-made EVs. This move had a significant impact on Tesla, which up to that date was importing the Model 3 and Model Y from China into Canada. To avoid the tariff and having to raise prices, Tesla switched to sending cars from the US to Canada, which resulted in some changes to the lineup, the most significant of which were the removal of the base Model 3 and Model Y RWD, and the addition of new LR RWD variants of each.
With the change in logistics, that also meant Tesla had to reapply to Transport Canada to get these vehicles approved for the $5,000 iZEV rebate. While some have been approved, the new Model Y LR RWD and Performance built in the US have not, at least yet.
According to a message on Tesla’s Design Studio added on Thursday, the company says both are “likely to be eligible for iZEV and are currently pending approval.” No similar message was added for the Model 3.
If you have purchased either variant and were depending on that $5,000 rebate, don’t worry. With all of Tesla’s other models that meet the criteria for the program being approved, including the new Model 3 LR RWD, we fully expect these two models to also be approved. Tesla’s wording in this message saying they are “likely” to be eligible was simply chosen to cover themselves legally, as they can’t say it will be, or is eligible, when the official approval hasn’t been given.
So what does this mean if you are waiting for delivery? It all depends on how long this approval takes. If it takes a while and you were previously set to receive the rebate, Tesla will likely hold deliveries until the approval is issued by Transport Canada, so your delivery date may end up being delayed.
However, with the other US-made cars already being approved, it shouldn’t take long for these to be added to the list of eligible vehicles.
