Tesla confirmed on Tuesday that it has finished its first shipments from its Shanghai production to North America by placing China-made Model 3 and Model Y cars for sale in Canada on the company website.
Both the long-range, all-wheel drive Model 3 and the rear-wheel drive Model Y vehicles were listed on Tesla’s website as being ready for immediate delivery in British Columbia, with codes indicating they were made in Tesla’s Gigafactory in Shanghai.
In Canada, which, unlike the United States, does not relate the site of electric-vehicle subsidies to the location of the plant that built the car, both models are eligible for federal incentives totaling C$5,000 ($3,700).
The business, like other producers of electric vehicles, enjoys a cost advantage in China as exports from that market flourish. The price of the Model Y produced in China was C$61,990 in Canada. Before incentives, the identical vehicle in China would have cost roughly 22% more.
With its decision to export to Canada from Shanghai, Tesla may be able to keep selling cars built in its plants in Texas and California in the US, where they may be eligible for tax benefits of up to $7,500 under the Biden administration’s subsidy scheme.
Also, it gives Tesla Shanghai, which accounted for more than half of the company’s output last year, access to a new market.
EVs are produced in Tesla’s Shanghai manufacturing and exported to foreign markets,
When selling cars, Tesla uses a code that matches the first three digits of the VIN, or vehicle identification number. All Tesla models produced by the Shanghai facility have VINs that begin with the letters “LRW.”
It was unclear how many Tesla cars built in China were on sale in Canada or how many were still on the road.
Tesla announced last month that it would sell a new, less expensive Model Y in Canada; this variation would have a rear-wheel drive and be eligible for government incentives in that country.