Tesla ships more vehicles from China to North America

Credit: Wu Wa/YouTube

Update: 1:41 PM EDT: Para 3 updated for accuracy.

Tesla is shipping another batch of vehicles from China to North America as a second ship packed with all-electric cars built at Gigafactory Shanghai is on its way to Canada.

It is a move that further solidifies Tesla’s strategy to send vehicles from Shanghai to the North American market, and it may be indicative of further shipments from China to Canada.

In late AprilReuters reported that Shanghai-built Tesla units would make their way to Canada. Musk, said reports of the company shipping cars from China to the U.S. were “false” in a Tweeted response. However, it is apparently moving forward with shipments to Canada.

However, the April reports were proven to be accurate as both Model 3 and Model Y vehicles made their way to a port in Washington State on May 1.

Logistics records showed the vehicles came from a port in Shanghai, and images shared by ship tracker Morten Lund revealed both all-electric mass-market Tesla cars were present.

Now, Lund has confirmed that a second ship carrying Tesla vehicles has left Shanghai and is on its way to Canada, packed with vehicles that were built at the Chinese factory.

The reasons for Tesla shipping these vehicles from China to Canada ultimately catalyzes plenty of room for speculation, but it is likely that the tax credit rules from the Inflation Reduction Act have a lot to do with it.

Tesla is likely keeping U.S.-produced vehicles within the border and selling them to U.S.-based customers to take advantage of the tax credits that make the cars more affordable.

U.S.-produced EVs receive an additional bit of money off through tax credits, which means Tesla is prone to ship vehicles from China to Canada to handle demand there.

Canada also has a $5,000 incentive through the iZEV program, and it does not favor local production for consumers to receive it. Instead, it is given to any person who buys an EV, regardless of where it is built.

A second ship heading to Canada from China seems to indicate Tesla is planning to use this strategy more often.

I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.

Joey Klender: Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his time at TESLARATI, Joey has broken several big stories, including the first images of the Tesla Model S Plaid, the imminent release of the 4680 Model Y through EPA certification, and several expansions to the Lucid AMP-1 factory in Arizona, to name a few. His stories have been featured in several publications, including Yahoo! Finance, Fox News, CNET, and Seeking Alpha. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on Twitter @KlenderJoey.
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