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Most popular EV in Canada, Tesla Model 3, no longer eligible for federal rebate

Dec 2, 2021 | 12:51 PM

OTTAWA — The Tesla Model 3 will no longer top the list of Canada’s most rebated electric car.

Transport Canada says the popular battery-operated vehicle was removed from the eligibility list for the federal zero-emission vehicle rebate in late November.

The carmaker just raised the base price for the Model 3 to $59,990, well above the $45,000 qualifying price to get the $5,000 rebate.

In 2019 the company lowered the price to just under $45,000 to make it eligible for the rebate.

Since the rebate program began in May 2019, nearly 35,000 Teslas qualified for it, more than twice as many as the second-place Toyota Prius.

More than half a billion dollars has been spent on EV rebates in the last three years, of which more than one-third went to Teslas.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 2, 2021.

Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press