Canadian officials looking into surge of Tesla sales: report

A suspicious surge in Tesla sales earlier this year sparked an investigation from Transport Canada.

Over three days in January, Tesla reported selling 8,600 vehicles nationwide, resulting in $43 million in government rebates.

The Canadian Automobile Dealers Association has urged Transport Canada to investigate, as it believes the rebate system is being misused. Canadian officials are investigating the spike in Tesla sales to see if there are any irregularities during the program’s final days.

In January, Canada announced it would wind down its federal EV incentive program. Alongside this, Tesla increased the Model 3 and Model Y prices on February 1st, which meant the vehicles no longer qualify for the $5,000 rebate for EVs under $55,000.

The combination of the two might have caused an uptick in sales, but 8,600 vehicles in four locations across a three-day period is a lot. One location sold 1,200 vehicles only on January 11th, and another in Quebec City sold more than 4,000 that weekend.

Source: Motor Illustrated, CTV News (video)