No more federal rebates for Canada’s best-selling electric vehicle, the Tesla Model 3

The Tesla Model 3 will no longer top the list of the lowest priced electric cars in Canada.

In a notice posted on its website, Transport Canada said the popular car is no longer eligible for the federal $ 5,000 electric car rebate program for its 2021 and 2022 models.

Only Tesla 3 models that were ordered before November 23 will still have their price tag reduced rebate under what the government calls its iZEV program.

Transport Canada said Tesla announced a price increase on its standard-range and standard-range plus models that took effect on November 23, which now exceeds the iZEV program eligibility requirements.

“As a result, these vehicle models are no longer eligible for iZEV program incentives,” the department said.

The automaker’s website now lists the base price for the Model 3 at $ 59,990, well above the qualifying price of $ 45,000 for the $ 5,000 rebate. Higher-end versions of the same model can cost up to $ 55,000 and still be eligible.

In 2019, the company lowered the base price of the Model 3 to just under $ 45,000 to make it eligible for the program, which began in May of that year.

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Since then, nearly 35,000 Teslas have qualified for it, and the company received $ 173.6 million.

It puts Tesla at the forefront as the most popular electric car in Canada. The number two electric car, the Toyota Prius Prime plug-in hybrid, which qualifies for a $ 2,500 rebate, has earned a rebate on 14,822 vehicles as of May 2019, for a total of $ 36.9 million.

The Hyundai Kona is the next most popular all-electric vehicle and is also eligible for the full $ 5,000 rebate. The company has submitted 12,890 cars for rebate and received $ 64.4 million.

Joanna Kyriazis, Senior Policy Advisor at Clean Energy Canada, said the Tesla 3 has proven to be very popular, but she is not concerned that its price outside the iZEV program will have a negative impact on overall electric car sales.

“The federal rebate program has been very popular and there are many other electric vehicle models that would qualify for the federal rebate,” he said. “We just need a national zero-emission vehicle mandate to ensure that enough of those vehicles are available to Canadians across the country.”

Earlier this year, federal liberals said they intend to mandate that by 2030, half of all new cars sold in Canada will be zero emissions and 100 percent by 2035. About 3.5 percent of the new cars sold last year were ZEVs.

The Tesla 3s soared to the top of the popularity chart in Canada before the federal incentive appeared. Introduced in spring 2018, Teslas flew to the top of the sales list, selling nearly 5,000 cars in the first four months on sale. The Nissan Leaf, which ranked second in the second and third quarters of 2018, sold about 3,800.

This Canadian Press report was first published on December 2, 2021.