Tesla is starting (finally) to ramp up Model 3 production, but at the moment it appears that the only model Canadians can get is the fully-loaded version featuring the Premium package and the top-of-the-line battery with 499 kilometers of range. These two options bump the Model 3’s price to $64,100, almost $20,000 more than the entry-level Model 3.
So much for being the affordable Tesla.
Hundreds of thousands of consumers rushed to put a $1,000 down on the new Model 3 when it was first announced, many of them thinking they could finally own a Tesla without having to shell out $ 70,000 minimum for a Model S.
Well, that will have to wait. The only Model 3s being built and shipped right now to Canada are loaded. Buyers who want a more affordable version will have to wait a little while longer.
This is so Tesla. Sure you get 500 kilometers of range and sure you get all the bells and whistles, but the point of the Model 3 is to be accessible. It’s to increase the amount of electric cars on the road by capitalizing on Tesla’s cult-like following on a much larger scale. It’s to have Chevrolet shaking in their boots because the Model 3 is cool and the Bolt is, well, a Chevrolet. It’s to blow the Nissan LEAF out of the water and have Hyundai reconsidering their IONIQ EV. It’s made to make Tesla profitable for once, and allow the company to produce other mass-market models like the Model Y, for instance.
At $65,000 (that’s what it costs, even when you take into account the rebates and taxes), it doesn’t do any of that. And yes, I understand that the more affordable models will eventually be produced, but still, I was really hoping to finally see an actual $45,000 Tesla Model 3 on its way to Canada.
I think many of the 500,000 potential customers feel the same way. If they didn’t, they would have bought a Model S, no?
