Tesla launches its “most affordable” Model 3 electric sedan yet, starting at under $A43,000

Tesla has launched its most affordable Model 3 to date in a key market, starting at the equivalent of less than $A43,000.

This new Premium RWD variant has appeared in Canada and comes with what appears to be a more powerful powertrain, shaving a whole second off it’s 0-100 km/h sprint time.

In a post on X, Tesla North America said: “Canada 🇨🇦 Model 3 Premium RWD now starts at CAD $42,132. Most affordable it’s ever been.”

The price shift appears to be off the back of tariff cuts in Canada on Chinese made EVs, which of course Tesla does at its most productive factory in Shanghai, which has a production capacity of over one million cars a year.

The new model has a more conservative EPA range of 463 km, which is more than 500 km on the WLTP cycle measurement that is used commonly in Australia.

It shares the same top speed of 201 km/h but as mentioned above, it’s about a second faster to 100 km/h.

That could be due to a new battery pack with greater energy discharge rate or an upgrade to the rear-mounted drive unit, having a higher output.

It will also come with Tesla’s full-self driving (FSD) Supervised tech which can be subscribed to for $CA99 per month.

More recently, that software stack has seen multiple upgrades, including being able to easily drive to and park at its supercharging sites.

In a recent email to North American customers, the company said: “To make your drive easier, activate Full Self-Driving (Supervised) and let your Model 3 take you to your next Supercharging stop.”

Here in Australia, Tesla has not seen a price cut on the Model 3 for well over 18 months, although incentives often have been used to boost sales.

Currently, the Model 3 Premium RWD starts at $55,900 before on-roads.

So far, Tesla has sold over 2,000 Model 3s in the country in the first four months of 2026.

Since the fuel price increases, the demand for the model appears to be up with most local inventory sold.

Uniquely to Australia, all new purchases of Model 3 and Y vehicles come with Tesla’s 5-year unlimited-km warranty. This warranty is up from the previous 4-year or 80,000 km warranty on offer.

Tesla also offers some of the cheapest fast-charging options available, thanks to its supercharger network with over 150 active sites, which we recently reported was as low as $0.27/kWh in some parts of Australia at off-peak times.

The latest affordable variant in Canada is likely to help Tesla boost sales of its Model 3, making the most of market conditions which will initially exempt up to 49,000 Chinese made EVs.

See The Driven’s detailed EV sales data here: Australian electric vehicle sales by month in 2026; by model and by brand.

Sign up for The Driven’s free daily newsletter by clicking here and get the latest EV news & analysis delivered straight to your inbox. 

Riz Akhtar

Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.