Tesla offers discounts in Canada/Mexico, raising demand concerns
Tesla is now offering a $5,000 CAD/$74,750 MXN credit on Model 3 and Model Y vehicles purchased in Canada and Mexico before the end of this year. It’s a rare instance of Tesla offering discounts, and could be a sign of softening demand in North America.
The move comes just after Tesla increased the year-end discount to $7,500 in the neighboring US.
Tesla refers to the discount as a “credit” on their site, though the accompanying “Learn More” link merely describes the specifics of the recently announced supercharger credit, available since December 15, and omits any specifics about the credit:
Tesla is offering free Supercharging credits* — up to 10,000 kilometers of driving—for customers who take delivery of a new Tesla vehicle between December 15 and December 31, 2022. Free Supercharging will be credited to your Tesla Account in the month of January 2023 and will remain valid for a period of two years from your delivery date.
But inventory car prices do not show this credit as being applied already, as seen in the screenshot below:
The middle car, at $59,990 CAD, shows the same price as a custom-order configured car with the same base model specs. So inventory cars can expect an additional $5,000 CAD discount beyond the listed pricing on the website, but we don’t know exactly how that “credit” will be applied. You’ll have to ask your Tesla salesperson for the specifics.
The Canadian and Mexican discounts are almost identical to Wednesday’s additional US discount. Both convert to roughly $3,750 USD, which is the amount Tesla raised the US discount by.
In the US, this discount was largely thought of as a response to changing EV tax incentives. It had previously been expected that Teslas would qualify for $3,750 in EV tax credits next year due to the Inflation Reduction Act, but the Treasury announced Monday that they are delaying new rules, which means Teslas will now qualify for $7,500 in tax credits at least until some time in March. As a result, buyers might delay purchase for a few weeks to get new tax credits, so if Tesla wants to sell cars now, it makes sense to offer a temporary discount.
But Canada and Mexico do not have a similar tax credit change coming at the start of the year, so the discount in those territories must not be associated with that. Which means this could be a signal that Tesla sees a less-crowded order book than usual in this holiday season, and needs to spur interest by dangling a rare carrot in front of buyers.
Tesla often has end-of-quarter and end-of-year pushes for deliveries, shifting employee focus to delivering cars for the last few weeks of a quarter in order to finish out strong with high numbers. The company has stated for years that they would like to stop doing end-of-quarter delivery pushes, but that effort never really materialized and the company continues the practice basically every quarter.
These pushes usually materialize in the form of an all-hands motivational e-mail (with gratuitous use of the word “hardcore”) from CEO Musk, but he’s a little distracted from Tesla at the moment. Tesla also occasionally offers perks like free supercharging to get customers in the door at the end of the year. But now, we’re seeing a rare instance of Tesla offering discounts on their vehicles to motivate buyers to come in.
Tesla vehicles have received several price increases over the last year, likely due to increased supply chain costs and generally soaring EV demand overall. With EV supply being lower than demand, prices of many EVs have gone up.
But the auto market is finally starting to stabilize in the last few months, with new and used car prices starting to flatten out from their previous upward trend.
So this new discount doesn’t make up for this year’s price increases, but at least it’s a reversal of the recent trajectory of Tesla prices. That said, it is only temporary – or maybe it’s a sign that Tesla’s price increases have gotten a little overzealous and the company may need to correct in the opposite direction as a result of softening demand in North America.
Electrek’s Take
As Fred mentioned in his Take for Tesla’s original $3,750 US discount, Tesla has never really had trouble with demand, and has never needed to offer discounts as a result. He mentioned that his sign for waning Tesla demand would be when Tesla starts offering discounts.
The US discounts seem like a response to tax credit changes, and could be explained away thusly.
But this discount can’t be explained away as a response to changing government incentives. It doesn’t apply to Europe or Asia, only to North American cars, which incidentally are all produced in the same North American factories. It seems likely that Tesla may have too much NA inventory and wants to get some of it off their hands, and turned into cash, before it shows up on balance sheets at the end of the fiscal year.
Or maybe Tesla wanted to align pricing across territories – but if so, then why no discount in Europe, and why only $3,750 USD (equivalent) and not $7,500?
The move also comes amid falling popularity for the brand due to CEO Elon Musk’s recent shenanigans.
This could be a sign that Tesla demand, which has consistently risen at incredible rates for so many years, might at least be rising less quickly than it previously has.
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The Hyundai IONIQ 6 N is finally here, and it delivers. Hyundai’s electric sports car is loaded with fun new features, a sleek design (including a massive rear wing), 641 horsepower, and much more.
Meet the Hyundai IONIQ 6 N
After teasing the new model for the first time last month, Hyundai created quite a buzz. Now, we are finally getting our first look at the upgraded high-performance EV.
Hyundai unveiled the new IONIQ 6 N at the famed Goodwood Festival of Speed on Thursday in West Sussex, England. The upgraded model follows Hyundai’s first high-performance EV, the IONIQ 5 N.
At the event, the company boasted that its new electric sports car marks “a pivotal milestone in Hyundai N’s electrification journey,” adding “Hyundai N is once again redefining the boundaries of high-performance electrification with the debut of the IONIQ 6 N.”
The IONIQ 6 N delivers an impressive 641 horsepower (478 kW) and 77 Nm of torque, enabling a 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) sprint in just 3.2 seconds. Its top speed is about 160 mph (257 km/h).
That’s when using Hyundai’s Launch Control, one of the many performance features the new EV offers. Like its other N models, the IONIQ 6 is based on three pillars: Corner Rascal, Racetrack Capability, and, of course, an Everyday Sportscar.
Powered by two electric motors, a 223 hp (166 kW) at the front and another 378 hp (282 kW) motor at the rear, for a combined 600 hp (448 kW).
Redefining the EV driving experience
The upgraded IONIQ 6 “redefines the EV driving experience,” according to Hyundai, thanks to its advanced in-house vehicle control software.
Central to this is Hyundai’s N Active Sound + system, which mimics the feel and sound of a traditional engine. An added N e-Shift simulates shifting gears.
And that’s just the start. Other performance features, such as N Drift Optimizer, N Grin Boost, and N Torque Distribution, give you even more control over the vehicle while delivering increased power.
The IONIQ 6 N is powered by an 84 kWh battery, providing a WLTP range of up to 291 miles (469 km). However, EPA figures will be revealed closer to launch. Given the IONIQ 5 N has an EPA-estimated range of up to 221 miles, you can expect it to be slightly higher when it arrives.
With a 350 kW DC fast charger, Hyundai’s new performance EV can recharge from 10% to 80% in about 18 minutes.
With a length of 4,935 mm, a width of 1,940 mm, and a height of 1,495 mm, the IONIQ 6 N is about the size of the Porsche Taycan.
Hyundai will showcase the new high-performance EV during the hillclimb event alongside other models like the IONIQ 5 N, IONIQ 6 N Drift Spec, and IONIQ 6 N with N Performance parts. Hyundai promises each vehicle brings unique capabilities to the event, “guaranteeing a dynamic and thrilling on-track experience for all attendees.” Check back soon for more info.
What do you think of Hyundai’s new electric sports car? Would you buy one over the Porsche Taycan? Let us know in the comments.
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Elon Musk said that Tesla owners will “soon” have access to Grok, a large language developed by Musk’s xAI startup, days after the AI started calling itself ‘MechaHitler’.
Yesterday, xAI launched Grok 4, the latest version of its large language model.
The new model is benchmarking very well, but that’s generally the case with the latest model to come out. It edges the latest models from Google and OpenAI on intelligence by a few points, but it falls behind on speed:
At the launch event, Musk announced that Grok will “soon” be integrated into Tesla vehicles.
This is something that the CEO has been discussing since founding xAI, which has been controversial because Musk has also positioned Tesla to compete in the AI space. He even stepped down from his role at OpenAI due to a “conflict of interest with Tesla.”
The announcement of the imminent integration of Grok into Tesla vehicles comes just days after the language model went haywire on X and started praising Hitler, referring to itself as ‘MechaHitler’, and made several antisemitic comments.
xAI acknowledge the issue and put Grok on timeout while they fixed it:
We are aware of recent posts made by Grok and are actively working to remove the inappropriate posts. Since being made aware of the content, xAI has taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X. xAI is training only truth-seeking and thanks to the millions of users on X, we are able to quickly identify and update the model where training could be improved.
The “bug” came just a few weeks after Musk stated that he was displeased with Grok supporting left-wing narratives, even though it didn’t say anything inncurate, and that he would update Grok to “fix” it.
Now, the large language model (LLM) is expected to power the new voice assistant inside Tesla vehicles.
LLMs are becoming quite common in cars, especially premium vehicles. Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, and a few others have all integrated Chat-GPT in some models.
Many Chinese automakers have also developed their own and deployed them in cars, even entry-level ones.
Tesla is playing catch up on that front.
Electrek’s Take
As I have previously stated, I think Musk is setting up Tesla to invest or even merge with xAI at a ridiculous valuation – making Tesla shareholders virtually pay twice for Twitter, which is now part of xAI.
This is how he will be able to gain wider control over the company’s share.
Of course, it will be widely challenged in court. In fact, shareholders have already filed a lawsuit alleging that Musk was in breach of fiduciary duties to Tesla shareholders when he started xAI.
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Pipeline Winding in Summer Mountain Landscape
Sarkophoto | Istock | Getty Images
From the first discovery in Prudhoe Bay in 1968, Alaskans have had a love-hate relationship with oil.
On one hand, it allowed Alaska to abolish its state income tax, fund most government operations and provide every Alaskan with a dividend that continues to this day. On the other hand, it has left the state at the near total mercy of the global oil market.
In recent years, that has proven to be a bad bet. And it is the major reason Alaska finishes at the bottom of the CNBC America’s Top States for Business rankings in 2025.
With the price of Alaska North Slope crude oil down by double digits from a year ago, according to the Alaska Department of Revenue, Alaska has America’s worst economy as measured by the CNBC study. Economy is the heaviest-weighted category under this year’s methodology.
Alaska’s gross domestic product growth is in the bottom ten nationally. The state’s economy grew by just 1.5% last year, compared to 2.8% nationally.
More crucially, the state’s fiscal year 2026 budget is based on a forecast of $68 per barrel for crude oil, and it is unclear if that will hold. Alaska North Slope crude traded as low as $63.49 on May 5 before rebounding above $70 in recent weeks. State forecasters are counting on oil for around 70% of the state’s revenue over the next ten years, or nearly half the state’s operating budget. And some localities are far more dependent.
“When you look at the economic engine by default,” North Slope Borough Mayor Josiah Patkotak told CNBC last month, “That happens to be oil and gas by about 98% of our operating budget.”
$40 billion bet on natural gas as diversifier
For decades, Alaska has sought ways to diversify its economy, but it has had limited success. Proposals have involved alternative energy, agriculture, and the state’s tourism sector.
Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy speaks during a news conference at his office in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S. March 22, 2022.
Yereth Rosen | Reuters
In 2023, Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, signed legislation to put Alaska into the carbon market, using the state’s vast public lands for carbon storage, and to generate carbon offset credits for high carbon emitters in other states. But the program is still in the study phase. A report to the legislature in January said the program is not expected to generate any revenue until at least 2027.
More recently, the Trump administration is backing a proposal to build a natural gas pipeline alongside the Trans-Alaska oil pipeline, allowing the U.S. to ship liquid natural gas — a byproduct of North Slope oil production — to Asia.
The idea has been around for years, but the price tag, estimated at around $40 billion, was impossible for the industry to swallow even when petroleum prices were high.
Now, however, administration officials think that trade tensions might change the economics.
“There [are] countries around the world looking to shrink their trade deficit with the United States, and of course, a very easy way to do that is to buy more American energy,” U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC’s Brian Sullivan in Prudhoe Bay last month.
“If you get the commercial offtakers for the gas, financing is pretty straightforward,” Wright said.
If the project gets off the ground, it could provide a huge boost to Alaska’s economy, though it would still be at the mercy of commodity prices.
Lack of tech infrastructure, high costs
Alaska’s struggling economy is a major reason for its poor competitive performance, but it is not the only one.
The state ranks No. 49 in Infrastructure. While the state’s roads and bridges are in better shape than in many states in the Lower 48, its virtual infrastructure leaves much to be desired. Fewer than 2% of Alaskans have access to affordable broadband service, according to BroadbandNow Research. The data center boom has passed Alaska by thus far, with only four in the entire state.
Alaska is a notoriously expensive place to live, especially in the many remote parts of the state.
“When you’re paying 16 bucks a gallon for milk, we’ve got to figure out how to make sure that you can afford to buy the milk so you can live here. We’ve got to make sure you can afford to buy the gas so you can hunt here,” said Patkotak.
But one aspect of life is a bargain in Alaska. At a time of soaring homeowner premiums, online insurance marketplace Insurify projects Alaska homeowners insurance premiums will average $1,543 this year, the second lowest in the nation.
Join the conversation. Didn’t see your state mentioned? You can see where it ranked overall, and in all 10 categories of competitiveness, in the full rankings of the 2025 America’s Top States for Business.
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