United States drivers are getting desperate for affordable electric vehicles. With rising tariff costs and automakers struggling with dramatic debt-inducing pivots, it just doesn’t seem possible to get an EV in the United States that could be considered “cheap.” Meanwhile, the rest of the world keeps getting them.
And it’s not just the cheap Chinese EVs now. In a report from Automotive News, there is a $31,000 version of the Tesla Model 3. But it’s only available in Canada. Maple syrup, healthcare, and cheap EVs? Canada, you’re really laying it on a bit thick now.
United States doesn’t provide the best groundwork for a $30K EV
While Tesla is a domestic automaker — and Elon Musk was once a Donald Trump chronie — the electric vehicle maker is still quite aware of how poor America’s car market is. Without the United States’ 100% tariffs on Chinese vehicles, about 50% on materials, and 25% on EV batteries, America is falling behind in the EV industry. The rest of the world has been pushing for electric vehicles, and China has been dominating by rapidly producing cheaper options for European and Asian markets. Meanwhile, America thinks Chinese EVs are a “cancer,” leaving us with all of the massive, tech-stuffed luxury EVs nobody can afford.
Without that $7,500 tax incentive, it seems quite a bit silly to purchase an EV at all, especially one that’s above $50,000. Electric vehicle sales in America have plummeted. Automakers are scrambling to shift gears. Even Tesla, the most successful EV brand in the country, has been slowly dismissing passenger vehicles in an attempt to make autonomous robotaxis and humanoid robots its new thing.
Right now, our cheapest Tesla vehicle is a Model 3 RWD for nearly $40,000. It’s not horrible. But it’s not really an instant purchase, especially considering all of the drama surrounding Tesla’s broken promises and underwhelming advancements. I mean, $40,000 doesn’t include the $100 you gotta pay per month for Musk’s failed Full Self-Driving mode, which hasn’t advanced beyond Level 2 in over a decade.
Up in Canada, however, there’s a Tesla model that’s almost worth considering: a Model 3 that’s only $31,000. Why are they getting what America has needed all along?
So China will get the cheap EV instead
Well, it comes back to that whole China thing. According to Automotive News, Canada has become chummy with China, but is having a bit of a tiff with the United States. It’s all very messy. Very TMZ. Canada has a 25% tariff on imported U.S.-made products, including vehicles. That would make the Model 3 Long Range about $60,000 (in American). Meanwhile, Canada only has a 6.1% tariff on Chinese vehicles.
Well, the Model 3 RWD Premium is made in Shanghai. Seems like a no-brainer for Tesla. If you get the base model, it’s $31,000 (again, in American). Just stick with Stealth Gray (ugly) and don’t get any add-ons, features, or monthly subscriptions. Tesla packs on the pricing when you add anything. Even getting your car a blando Pearl White is $955. If you want to get real crazy and go Diamond Black, it’s $1,469 more. Ultra Red and Quicksilver are $1,910. You can pay another thousand for different wheels and another thousand for a different color interior. And then you can get Full Self-Driving mode every month.
However, this cheaper version comes with a few downsides. The range drops down to 288 miles and charging takes longer. This is because the Chinese-built Model 3 uses a lithium phosphate battery rather than the nickel-cobalt-manganese batteries used in the United States. But hey, maybe it’ll have better battery health. It’s a trade-off. Also, Canadian residents won’t qualify for the country’s $5,000 EV rebate because it’s from China. But when it’s already so cheap, that’s not really a huge deal.
We’re over here just wishing we had $30,000 electric vehicles. Period. All we have is the promise of a $30,000 electric pickup from Ford.
