Tesla loses 30 million dollars in subsidies in Canada!

Tesla just experienced a moment worthy of a La Fontaine fable: “He who thought he was catching, is caught.”

The Canadian government abruptly halted Tesla’s initiatives after a subsidy application for electric vehicles reaching 43.1 million Canadian dollars, or 30 million US dollars. Nothing unusual when discussing billions with Tesla, except this request covers a sales period of only 72 hours! This massive sum, claimed under the IZEV program, an equivalent of our Eco Bonus, equates to the sale of 8,653 electric vehicles in a single weekend across four Canadian dealerships. Doing the math, that’s like selling one car every minute! A feat worthy of a Guinness record or… a well-oiled little scam.

This frenzy caught the attention of authorities, prompting Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland to suspend all payments related to Tesla while examining each request. The dealerships involved, who advanced the funds, claim innocence and say they were guided by the US headquarters. They now find themselves short of funds and even threaten to lay off employees.

In good sport, Tesla knows the rules

This isn’t the first time Tesla bends the rules in Canada. In 2019, to make its Model 3 eligible for the iZEV program, the company launched a version priced at 44,999 Canadian dollars, just below the eligibility threshold. But this car, with its ridiculously short range, was never actually sold and was only a maneuver to claim 115 million Canadian dollars in subsidies.

But let’s be honest, this maneuver isn’t surprising. After all, it’s common in France for manufacturers to register vehicles en masse before losing or reducing the Eco Bonus. But Tesla shifted from “see no evil, hear no evil” to “too loud, pillory!”. Added to that is the politics. Elon Musk, with statements like “Canada is not a real country” (on X, formerly Twitter), didn’t help matters. The Canadian government has therefore excluded Tesla from any future aid as long as American tariffs on Canadian products persist.

Moral: Tesla played by the rules, but Canada gave it a slap on the wrist. A lesson for the electric giant: push things too far, and the backlash is never far behind.

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