Canadian Pricing and Delivery

[Doug_G]

+ $1,500 USD for interior upgrade

Okay, so for the Base car you are paying for that seat upgrade. They have made it non-optional so you have to get the seat heater... which is an extremely good idea to have in our climate.

The extra amount doesn't apply to Signature or Performance cars, which is why my earlier math worked out. There is no effect on the "Signature Premium" per se.

 

[mknox]

Here is a direct response from George over at the Tesla site forums.

gblankenship | August 15, 2012Hi everyone. There seems to be a bit of confusion surrounding this issue.
Brian H, you are correct.
pbrulott, unfortunately, all cars manufactured in North America cannot be imported into Canada duty free. In order to be duty free, a minimum percentage of the car must be made in North America. Model S falls slightly below that percentage, so our cars cannot be brought into Canada duty free. We must pay the 6.1% import duty. We do not have a choice. That is the only reason why we are including it in our pricing.
I hope this helps make things a little clearer regarding the 6.1%.
Regarding the overall math, here's how we see the build up:
US Base price
+ $1,500 USD for interior upgrade
+ 6.1% duty
+ 1.5% to 2% for incremental transportation and business costs
Then convert this total using a mid-term currency conversion rate
That's the way we did it.

So I wonder, then, if they're falling "just below" the NA content requirement, and the culprit seems to be the battery cells, is it possible that the smaller battery options may not draw the 6.1% duty? The pricing doesn't seem to reflect that.

 

[mknox]

With the Ontario rebate the price will effectively be $105,800.

The Ontario rebate is applied on the final sale price after HST. The US federal credit is subtracted from the base price, before taxes.

Mike

 

[Doug_G]

The Ontario rebate is applied on the final sale price after HST. The US federal credit is subtracted from the base price, before taxes.

Mike

That makes them pretty well equivalent.

 

[mknox]

That makes them pretty well equivalent.

Right, but then you would subtract +/- $7,500 (rather than $8,500) from the base price to give you $106,800.

 

[Spurkey]

Any other Canadian users having second thoughts, or thinking about cutting back on the options?

$100K for the MSP? Now that I see it in cold hard official-looking print it's definitely giving me serious second thoughts. I wasn't all that impressed after my test drive which makes it tough to plunk down that kind of money... I want a longer test drive and am considering waiting until I can get one before making my choice.

 

[Morristhecat]

Any other Canadian users having second thoughts, or thinking about cutting back on the options?

Mike

Yeah, I am thinking of cutting back on the options. Simplest, but hardest cut for me is 60kWh to 40kWh. But that is a hard cut... Really have to think about this. Hopefully I have til the spring to save more pennies... Oh wait, they cut the penny from circulation! Darn!

 

[mknox]

$100K for the MSP? Now that I see it in cold hard official-looking print it's definitely giving me serious second thoughts. I wasn't all that impressed after my test drive which makes it tough to plunk down that kind of money... I want a longer test drive and am considering waiting until I can get one before making my choice.

I was actually thrilled with the test drive, which is making it especially hard for me! I wish the car had more interior storage and a few additional tech options, like adaptive cruise, lane change warning and so forth, but that's another thread.

 

[mknox]

Yeah, I am thinking of cutting back on the options. Simplest, but hardest cut for me is 60kWh to 40kWh. But that is a hard cut... Really have to think about this. Hopefully I have til the spring to save more pennies... Oh wait, they cut the penny from circulation! Darn!

I hear you. I really need the range, and going from 85kWh to 60 would be a bitter pill. I'll have to go back to my models of how and where I plan (need) to drive to see if I could swing it.

 

[mnx]

I'm definitely getting the 85kWh perf.... However, I might drop back from sig to general production to save 6k+ (I'd probably drop the twin chargers and save 8800$).

It all depends on timing of sig deliveries vs. regular deliveries...

 

[Doug_G]

I dunno, I don't think I'd drop the dual chargers. Supercharging is fantastic if it's available; but if not then I'd want to use 70A or 80A if at all possible - and it is now possible in certain places. It can get rather tedious sitting and waiting for your car to charge.

At this point I'm still down for Signature Performance, despite the disappointment on the price. The frustration on the 6.1% is it doesn't even benefit Tesla, and it certainly doesn't benefit "domestic" manufacturers because there are no competing products.

 

[Right_Said_Fred]

Does anyone know what Tesla means with 'mid-term currency conversion rate'? Is it an average over a certain time period?

It would be nice to know, since this would give us in Europe a chance to calculate what European pricing could be like (with a 10% import tariff instead of 6,1% and probably a bit more than the 1,5-2% for shipping as European cars have to go on a boat).

 

[J in MN]

So I wonder, then, if they're falling "just below" the NA content requirement, and the culprit seems to be the battery cells, is it possible that the smaller battery options may not draw the 6.1% duty?

I'm wondering the same thing. The best .gov references I could find say that NAFTA requirement is 62.5% by value. We've seen the Signature (85 kWh) Monroney sticker stating 55% NAFTA content. So, a hypothetical 40 kWh Signature would be around 69.6% NAFTA. The 60 kWh would still not make it.

However, I haven't yet found whether or how optional equipment is counted.

Edit: I should add that NAFTA requires the calculation to be based on the component cost (aka Net Cost Method) for vehicles. It is probably safe to assume that Tesla's markup on the battery is much less than on the rest of the vehicle, which would put the NAFTA content at a lower percentage than what the retail price based calculation above indicated.

 

[tomanik]

3 years and 3 months ago I put down a deposit and have been keenly watching this car take shape. Today's pricing announcement is a key decision making milestone that I have been waiting for and although disappointed (in the duty) I expected as much. Going to have to do some soul searching over the next several months while I await the "time to build" email as the pricing means dropping the 'want' features and just get the bare-bone 40kwh base model.

 

[Spurkey]

I dunno, I don't think I'd drop the dual chargers. Supercharging is fantastic if it's available; but if not then I'd want to use 70A or 80A if at all possible - and it is now possible in certain places. It can get rather tedious sitting and waiting for your car to charge.

I thought the twin chargers only worked with the fancy-schmancy wall connector? That was the message I got at the test drive event, not that they weren't wrong about other things too... I'd also be curious to know where higher-amperage charging is available, is that from Sun Country? If 80A is available on the road then it would change my opinion of the twin chargers, to me it didn't make sense if I could only use it at my house.

 

[Robert.Boston]

3 years and 3 months ago I put down a deposit and have been keenly watching this car take shape. Today's pricing announcement is a key decision making milestone that I have been waiting for and although disappointed (in the duty) I expected as much. Going to have to do some soul searching over the next several months while I await the "time to build" email as the pricing means dropping the 'want' features and just get the bare-bone 40kwh base model.

I'm genuinely puzzled. Tesla is offering the car in Canada at little-to-no markup over the US price. It's a shame that the NA content didn't get rid of the 6.1% import tariff, but it's hardly fair to tag Tesla with that.

 

[Doug_G]

Yes, J1772 can support 80A, and Sun Country is installing the higher power ones wherever they can. The new station at Shannonville Motorsports Park is 70A, for example, and is on my route to Toronto.

 

[Doug_G]

I'm genuinely puzzled. Tesla is offering the car in Canada at little-to-no markup over the US price. It's a shame that the NA content didn't get rid of the 6.1% import tariff, but it's hardly fair to tag Tesla with that.

When did governments ever worry about "fair". I'm wondring now whether most North American cars shipped over that border actually qualify. Parts in all vehicles are made around the world, after all.

 

[Robert.Boston]

Doug, what puzzled me is why people are disappointed with the Canadian pricing. Every adder above the US price is well explained.

 

[Jaff]

The duty is complete buncombe to me and represents a failure of government policy...If all governments were serious about the implementation of EV's, then until EV's reached critical mass world-wide, they would exempt them from such duties (and sales tax) as both of these government policies impede global acceptance of the product.