Tesla appears to be preparing to sell US-built Model 3s in Canada again

Tesla Canada has updated the Model 3 Premium Rear-Wheel Drive on its website with 584 km of range and a 0-100 km/h time of 5.2 seconds. Those are the exact specs of the Fremont-built Long Range RWD that Tesla sold in Canada two years ago.

The Shanghai-built version, the $39,490 CAD car Canadians haven’t been able to order since early October, is rated at 463 km and 6.2 seconds. The new numbers point to a different car from a different factory.

Canadian Tesla owner RJ was first to spot the change on X:

The new figures are in the “Model 3 Premium Specs” section of Tesla’s Canadian Model 3 page, under the Rear-Wheel Drive tab, along with a curb weight of 1,745 kg. The page’s marketing copy now also promises “up to 584 km (EPA est.) on a single charge.”

Tesla hasn’t touched its Canadian comparison page, though. As of this afternoon, it still lists the Model 3 Premium RWD at 463 km, 6.2 seconds and $39,490.

The specs match Fremont, not Shanghai

In October 2024, Tesla Canada listed the Model 3 Long Range RWD at 584 km and 5.2 seconds, starting at $54,990 and eligible for the federal iZEV rebate. That car came from Fremont.

They also line up with the Model 3 Premium RWD Tesla sells in the US today. Tesla’s US website rates it at 363 miles of EPA range, which converts to 584 km, with 0-60 mph in 4.9 seconds. It starts at $42,490 USD.

There’s one other candidate. Giga Shanghai builds a Model 3 Long Range RWD for the Chinese market with a 78.4 kWh pack, 830 km of CLTC range and the same 5.2-second 0-100 km/h time.

But a Shanghai-built car runs into the same quota problem that paused Model 3 orders in Canada earlier this month. Tesla’s website says orders will resume “if Govt of Canada issues more quota, expected March 2027.” Meanwhile, the federal tracker showed 33,069 of the period’s permits still unused as of October 9.

So if Tesla wants to sell a long-range Model 3 in Canada before March, it has to come from Fremont.

The tariff problem hasn’t gone away

And that’s where it gets expensive. Canada’s 25% counter-tariffs on US-made vehicles, in place since April 2025, still apply. The Department of Finance’s counter-tariff page, updated October 9, says the measures against US autos “continue to apply.”

Those tariffs are what pushed Tesla out of US-built Model 3s in the first place. When they hit, Tesla raised the Model 3 Long Range AWD by $11,000 to $79,990 and dropped the $55,990 RWD entirely. In March, it shipped its remaining US-built Model 3 inventory out of Canada ahead of the switch to Shanghai, which led to the record-low $39,490 Model 3 Premium RWD in May.

If Tesla applies a similar markup to a Fremont-built Premium RWD, it would land somewhere around $65,000 to $67,000. That’s well above the $50,000 transaction cap of Canada’s new $5,000 EV Affordability Program, even though US-built cars otherwise qualify through CUSMA (Chinese-built ones don’t).

Right now, the only Model 3 you can order in Canada is the Performance, which Tesla priced at $74,990 when it cut its price in May.

Electrek’s Take

Tesla hasn’t announced anything, and the configurator hasn’t changed. But Tesla doesn’t usually rewrite a spec sheet for a car it isn’t planning to sell, and these numbers match a car it has sold in Canada before.

The most logical explanation is a stopgap. Tesla had a real hit with the $39,490 Model 3, ran through its quota in about four months, and is now stuck selling a $75,000 Performance until March. A Fremont-built Premium RWD would give buyers a long-range Model 3 at something less painful than that.

The problem is that it’d be a tough sell. I think Canadian buyers are more likely to wait and see if Tesla gets more quotas next and year. At the same time, they will wait to see what the Chinese automakers have to offer next year.

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