this post was submitted on 09 Mar 2025

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Tesla Claimed 8,669 Canadian EV Rebates as the Program Ran Out of Funds… That’s 1.5 Sales Per Minute (fuelarc.com)

submitted 3 days ago by KayLeadfoot@fedia.io to c/nottheonion@lemmy.world

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Between January 10 and January 12, after being warned that an EV rebate program was running out of funds, Tesla dealerships in Canada managed to claim 8,669 individual iZEV EV rebates, or about $43 million CAD in incentives. That’s a staggering number of sales to log in a single weekend, about 1.5 sales per minute. Let's dig into the numbers.

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[–] Hobbes_Dent@lemmy.world 97 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Canadians are furious, but even considering an uptick to catch rebates this is pure fraud:

Let’s run the numbers:

8,669 iZEV rebates over three days claimed by Tesla dealerships.

Mostly claimed by four Tesla locations.

Tesla dealerships in Canada are open from 10 AM to 6 PM.

That works out to 722 rebates per primary dealership per day.

Which equals 90 iZEV rebates per hour.

Or 1.5 Tesla sales per minute.

Let’s take a step back. Two Tesla sales every 90 seconds? That’s absurd. A good car salesperson might close two deals in two hours, not per minute. And that’s in a normal sales environment… not one where every eligible car has to be processed for a government rebate at the same time.

[–] bitchkat@lemmy.world -4 points 1 day ago

With Tesla, you submit your order online. I highly doubt that's where these numbers come from but it is possible that the orders were placed online and routed through sales center in the major population areas.

[+] neatchee@lemmy.world -10 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

Is it possible some of these were liquidations or inventory sell-off or something? As a data person my initial assumption would be a few bulk purchases throwing this calculation out of whack

I could see some private dealership figuring out a way to buy the vehicles and resell them as a hard-to-get item later

Edit: down votes for asking a question? Y'all are weird. I'm not even saying it's not fraud.

[–] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 60 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

If by "private dealership" you mean the Tesla dealerships themselves. "Buy" their own cars, pocket the rebate, sell the car later.

You know.

Fraud.

[–] HK65@sopuli.xyz 15 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Do non-consumer purchases count as eligible for the rebate if they plan to resell?

[–] neatchee@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I have no idea. That's why I was asking 🤷

[–] KayLeadfoot@fedia.io 11 points 2 days ago

So, the data has a "commercial" or "consumer" flag, Canada is apparently quite sensible and thought one step ahead of the shady things auto dealers might try - so we'd be able to see if it was a wholesale sort of deal, I think.

It wasn't, all the sales I saw were consumer flagged.

[–] humanspiral@lemmy.ca -4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Don't think so, but if I give you $100-$500 to buy a car on paper and sell it back to me less the rebate, that shouldn't be illegal.

[–] HK65@sopuli.xyz 1 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

That would literally be fraud.

Also stupid because the sales tax would be more than the rebate I imagine.

[–] leftytighty@slrpnk.net 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It's not for "asking a question"

I suspect the professionals looking into this potential fraud are going to think of these things.
when and how hard you choose to play devil's advocate says something about you.
whether well intentioned or not this is Musk apologia at best, and excuses/misinformation at worst. I think our Transport Minister does basic diligence before asking for an investigation and having the story in the media.

We're all used to these "centrist" / "just asking questions" types and how they only crawl out of their holes to play devil's advocate for fascists, it's tired.

[–] neatchee@lemmy.world -1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Lol check my post/comment history and see how fucking wrong you are

Literally caucused for Bernie.

Everyone is so ready to pick up a pitchfork that you fail basic reading comprehension.

I'm literally just trying to think of ways they could have EXECUTED this. I said nothing of the legitimacy, fairness, justice, or legality of the behavior

It is the bread and butter of capitalist fucks to operate just barely within the letter of the law.

This was never apologia and your (and others) penchant for picking a fight is toxic as fuck.

[–] leftytighty@slrpnk.net 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Fair enough, I'm not going to do a background check on every poster but I see that I was lumping your response in with the originator of the thread and could have given yours a more charitable interpretation.

[–] KayLeadfoot@fedia.io 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I'm just a journalist/comedian :) I got no dog in this fight, other than that the appearance of corruption in public programs is newsworthy.

If I'm ever unfairly positive about Tesla, do let me know. Most Tesla fans (and assorted grifters who grift in the same circles) say I'm actually the opposite, that I'm shield-biting Tesla hater, probably a paid Anti-Elon shill and maybe a $TSLA shortseller. They feel that way enough to send me threats from time to time. Neither take is true, but it's funny that I'm getting shot at by both sides.

If you find my stories interesting, you can do me a solid by sharing them on any subreddit or Fedia instance that you think would find them interesting. This publication is a couple weeks old, and that helps me get traction, it's wild that this story is only getting coverage by Canadian outlets.

[–] leftytighty@slrpnk.net 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Sorry I've been imprecise again, I meant the root comment that's from Lung.

[–] KayLeadfoot@fedia.io 2 points 1 day ago

Ope, shit, I jumped the gun. My bad!