Tesla is listing China-made Model 3 and Model Y cars for sale in Canada, the company’s website showed on Tuesday, confirming the electric carmaker has completed its first shipments to North America from its Shanghai factory.
Tesla’s website showed both rear-wheel drive Model Y vehicles and the long-range, all-wheel drive version of the Model 3 available for immediate delivery in British Columbia, with codes showing they were manufactured at Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory.
Both models qualify for federal incentives of C$5,000 (US$3,700) in Canada, which, unlike the United States, does not link electric vehicle subsidies to the location of the plant that made the car.
Tesla representatives in China and at the company's headquarters in the United States did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The company and other electric car manufacturers have a cost advantage in China as exports from that market boom. The China-made version of the Model Y was listed for C$61,990 in Canada. That is about 22 percent more than the equivalent vehicle costs in China before incentives.
Tesla's move to export to Canada from Shanghai could help it keep vehicles made at its plants in California and Texas for sale in the United States, where they qualify for potential tax incentives of up to US$7,500 under the Biden administration’s subsidy program.