Tesla Vehicles now importable to Canada!!

[yokel]

According to the new list here that lists import admissibility for vehicles bought in the US

https://www.tc.gc.ca/media/documents/motorvehiclesafety/vafus.pdf

I see the below text:

2017 TO 2020 Model 3
2012 TO 2020 Model S - see [EIS] note
2009 TO 2011 Roadster - see Note-2 for admissible Roadster models
Please read all notes
For Model X sport utility vehicle models, see
Section 5.4

 

[InfinitiGuy]

That's great news. I wonder if we'll start to see 'used' cars being sent up to Canada.

 

[ChooseGreen]

Amazing! Any experts on private import fees/duty/etc. for passenger vehicles? I’m assuming that Tesla would still honour their used warranties given they have service infrastructure here in Canada. Do we have to pay for the “conversion” I wonder?

Thanks to Tesla and Transport Canada for working this out!

 

[mrElbe]

Hold on, not so fast. First you have to check with Tesla Canada if the required modifications to conform to Canadian regulation can be performed and how much it will cost. Secondly, there might be no warranty because each country operation has so much funds in the pot. There might be a hefty warranty transfer fee. All this needs to be clarified first.

 

[yokel]

Hold on, not so fast. First you have to check with Tesla Canada if the required modifications to conform to Canadian regulation can be performed and how much it will cost. Secondly, there might be no warranty because each country operation has so much funds in the pot. There might be a hefty warranty transfer fee. All this needs to be clarified first.

Makes sense. Getting this in to the admissible list is a step in the right direction. I wonder if there are certain rules from Tesla that owners have to adhere to to make the import possible.

 

[Pilot7478]

TESLA MOTORS

Note-2: Tesla Motors has informed Transport Canada that Tesla service centers are currently not in a position to support the substantial modifications required to bring U.S. Model S and Model X vehicles into compliance with Canadian requirements. Contact the manufacturer for further details.

 

[InfinitiGuy]

As for warranty, you could always cross back to the US. Not as convenient but better than having to sell your car and buy it again in Canada.

 

[atc789]

Does anyone know if you can do the modifications yourself? I've imported many cars previously and usually there are other ways to get DRL working on the car, i would think that's the only modification needed for the Tesla for it to comply. (and French Airbag stickers which can be purchased online).

 

[Kappelan]

I wonder how Teslas from the States were coming here before?

 

[atc789]

I wonder how Teslas from the States were coming here before?

you couldn't import Tesla's before, except maybe the old roadster?

 

[Kappelan]

When I was shopping for Tesla I was looking for used Model S' as well and came across a few that were imported from the States according to Carproof.

 

[pcons]

As for warranty, you could always cross back to the US. Not as convenient but better than having to sell your car and buy it again in Canada.

Funny thing about this is Oakville SC is the place you have to go if you live in upstate New York for service as its the closest centre to you...so that would set up an interesting situation if a Tesla was imported from the US and 'lost' its US warranty because that same car would be going to the same service centre before it was imported

 

[Stan K]

I was looking at the prices on the American Auto trader and the prices are not cheap. Comparing to Canadian prices they are actually more expensive and all the hassle with the import process. The only thing that's better is the selection. They have way more cars.

 

[mrElbe]

TESLA MOTORS

Note-2: Tesla Motors has informed Transport Canada that Tesla service centers are currently not in a position to support the substantial modifications required to bring U.S. Model S and Model X vehicles into compliance with Canadian requirements. Contact the manufacturer for further details.

View attachment 446594

That document has been superseded by the one dated August 23 which states that Model S and Model X are admissible .

 

[X.l.r.8]

I was comparing prices for my model S for the past month, at first glance the numbers seem good but once you convert to miles and Canadian Dollars it’s really not much benefit. Sure a road trip to pick up a car is fun and that’s how I got my car back from Seattle. There may be a better choice but my car averaged 58-63k USD and I paid 70k from Tesla not one car had the spec I wanted at a better price. I don’t think it’s going to make a huge influx of cars crossing the border. The real benefit is to people who move to Canada that can keep their cars. Once again DRLs and an airbag sticker are the easy parts. It’s not a fun way to convert a car because of the company you are dealing with.

 

[BEPA400]

Once again DRLs and an airbag sticker are the easy parts.

I don’t get it, what’s the hard part? I imported my Leaf 3 years ago because it was so much cheaper. It was no hassle at all. Any shop could ‘install’ the DRL. I did the rest myself. Which amounted to changing license plates and setting the units in the computer to metric.

Sure maybe the prices on used Tesla’s are not compelling to import, but I doubt the ‘extensive’ modifications which Tesla refers to even exist. They just don’t want more things to do.

 

[ChooseGreen]

My understanding from the Transport Canada documentation is that the ‘electronic immobilization system’ needs to be installed. Not sure what that even means for an EV. Is there any hardware that needs to be installed/updated for a Model S to meet this requirement?

 

[X.l.r.8]

The Tesla was primarily built for the US market and as such conformed to US spec, therefore did not comply to other specifications. If you have tried to import a US only car, not a car that is produced to a multinational specification you will find there are more complex systems that include but are not limited to, RF that US uses which are not allowable in Canada and Europe. These are used to control things like the immobilizer circuit and garage door openers, usually fixed and embedded in the system. The reason the Roadster could be imported was simply because this module (if you could locate one) was a stand alone unit, not built into the vehicle.
Importing global market cars really is pretty simple, Tesla now make a global market car and as such in theory it’s possible to convert a us spec to Canadian car, just as you can in theory swap an AP2 system into an AP1 car. The question is would you.

 

[X.l.r.8]

My understanding from the Transport Canada documentation is that the ‘electronic immobilization system’ needs to be installed. Not sure what that even means for an EV. Is there any hardware that needs to be installed/updated for a Model S to meet this requirement?

That’s exactly the point. I took too long typing

 

[X.l.r.8]

If anyone is interested in importing a roadster the part numbers to make life easy for you are as follows

6002883 - INSTRUMENT PACK,ROADSTER (EUR) -- mi/h to km/h
Obviously not needed for later Tesla models

6003892 - KIT, ALARM, EU, R2 -- keyfob with immobilization system per Transport Canada standards
A simple black box behind the dash that will require new airbag clips to get to.

6004588 - Module,Veh Mgmt Sys (VMS), EU GSM w/res. -- permanent daylight, mi to km odometer
The last know one was Located in Europe, but there may be a few more undocumented on a shelf somewhere. Not only will the main interface require replacing but someone will need to link it to the vehicle. At present there are no known techs retained that have the equipment or knowledge to do it.

2002011 - ALPHA - MODULE,HOMELINK -- yes, you're reading right, the garage door opener!!!... :cursing:
The thing is not standard in US and Canada and is integrated with Canadian/European VMS, so they had to change it too.

Thankfully these were all parts added to the roadster in component form, not built into it the system as a whole unit.

Compliance regulations change so if Transport Canada, who seem to be governed by Canadian Insurance Companies, relax the requirements then it should be a simple process, like importing a Porsche or a Toyota.