Tesla updated its online car configurator/studio for Canadian customers last week with the addition of a new Model Y Rear-Wheel Drive (RWD) variant.
Tesla introduced this variant for a considerably cheaper price range that’s just perfect to qualify for Transport Canada’s CA$5,000 iZEV program incentive.
This newly-launched Tesla Model Y RWD in Canada is reportedly getting imported from China. This is the first time in Tesla’s history that the automaker is importing Made-in-China Tesla cars to North America.
When Elon Musk inaugurated Tesla’s Gigafactory in Shanghai, he said that the higher trim variants will always be imported into China from the US and lower trims will be made in China. Tesla at the time did not have any plans to import any cars to North America from China.
But it seems the times have changed and Tesla is experimenting by launching a lower-cost Tesla Model Y in Canada first. Tesla might do the same in the United States in the near future if this experiment goes well in the neighboring country.
Tesla states the EPA estimated range of the new Model Y RWD as 394 km (~245 miles). The 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) acceleration is listed as 6.9 seconds.
The range of Model Y Long Range is 531 km which is 137 km more than the base RWD Model Y but is CA$10,000 more expensive as well.
The Canadian Model Y RWD is priced at CA$59,990 which is just under Transport Canada’s requirement of at least $60K MSRP to qualify for the Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles (iZEV) Program incentive.
When looking at the list of eligible vehicles on Trasport Canada’s website, I found only Model 3 RWD and Model Y RWD as qualifying vehicles for the iZEV program.
According to Trasport Canada’s conditions published on Tesla support’s official website as well, the Model Y Long Range AWD variant should also qualify for the incentive but it’s not listed as of this writing.
As we can see in the screenshot above, the amount of Transport Canada incentive decreases as the lease duration is decreased. If the qualifying vehicle is purchased for cash or on a 48-month lease, it receives the full CA$5,000 rebate (learn more on the Transport Canada website).
Tesla launched an RWD variant of the Model Y in the United States back in January 2021 but discontinued it soon afterward. Since then there have been speculations and anticipation of it coming back but to no avail.
However, Tesla has recently been decreasing prices constantly in the US which might temporarily eliminate the need for a cheaper RWD Model Y with less than 250 miles of range. With the most recent price decrease, a Tesla Model Y All-Wheel Drive (AWD) in the US costs as low as US$46,990.
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