Tesla Just Added a Cheaper Dual-Motor AWD Model 3 in Canada

Tesla has quietly added a new trim to its Canadian online configurator: the Model 3 Premium All-Wheel Drive (AWD), and it lands at a sharp $49,990 CAD.

This mid-tier setup fills a real gap for Canadian buyers who want dual-motor power but don’t want to jump all the way to the top-end Performance model. It slots right between the much cheaper entry-level Rear-Wheel Drive version ($39,490) and the track-focused Performance trim ($74,990).

On the spec sheet, the Premium AWD holds its own. It has an EPA-estimated range of 570 kilometres on a single charge and goes from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.4 seconds. The configurator currently lists estimated delivery dates spread across August and September. Like the other Shanghai-sourced cars, these are built at Giga Shanghai in China and shipped across the Pacific.

The $49,990 price tag is a big shift for Tesla’s Canadian lineup. The old dual-motor Long Range AWD trim used to cost a lot more before it was pulled from the market entirely, which left a wide gap between the base car and the $74,990 CAD Performance edition. This new price keeps the dual-motor option just under that important $50,000 line. Unfortunately it doesn’t qualify for the new $5,000 federal rebate as the car is coming from China.

The launch leans directly on the trade setup that came together earlier this year. After an automotive and quota deal worked out between Ottawa and Beijing, Canada lets up to 49,000 Chinese-built electric vehicles into the country each year under a low 6.1% most-favoured-nation tariff rate.

By supplying Canada out of Giga Shanghai instead of its Fremont plant in California, Tesla sidesteps the steeper trade barriers that hit U.S.-built cars and passes some of those savings on to local buyers. Shanghai-built base models have already started showing up at Canadian delivery centres, so the pipeline is up and running well ahead of the mid-summer Premium AWD wave.