Car rental firm Sixt announced plans for purchasing 100,000 electric vehicles from Chinese automaker BYD by 2028. The collaboration between the two companies starts with Sixt’s initial order for “several thousand” BYD-branded EVs with the first deliveries expected in Europe in the fourth quarter of 2022.
This is the first time a car rental company is offering BYD vehicles in Europe, starting from its customers in Germany, France, the Netherlands, and the UK. Among the vehicles will be the BYD Atto 3, a fully electric compact SUV that is sold under the BYD Yuan Plus EV name in its home market in China. The model is based on the e-Platform 3.0, is fitted with a front-mounted electric motor producing 201 hp (150 kW / 204 PS), and its BYD Blade batteries offer 420 km (261 miles) of WLTP range.
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Sixt said that its European fleet will be 70-90 percent electrified by 2030, while its stations and branches will be carbon neutral by the end of 2023. The company is also developing its own charging infrastructure. The BYD-sourced EVs will help Sixt lower its CO2 emissions, following the example of other car rental firms like Herz. The latter has already announced massive orders of EVs including 100,000 vehicles from Tesla, 65,000 vehicles from Polestar, and 175,000 vehicles from General Motors.
BYD claims to be “the world’s largest manufacturer of New Energy Vehicles” a term that includes BEVs and PHEVs. Earlier this year, the Chinese automaker supplied 1,000 units of the BYD D1 to Mexican company Vemo, forming the largest taxi EV fleet outside China. Besides the massive deal for 100,000 vehicles in the next six years, Sixt and BYD “will explore potential cooperation opportunities in different regions around the world”.
