SIXT picks Tesla's main competitor BYD for a 100,000 electric rental cars order

On the way to electrify its fleet of vehicles up to 90% by 2030, rental car giant SIXT signed a huge order for 100,000 electric vehicles with the world's second largest EV maker BYD. The Chinese juggernaut will, in fact, deliver as many electric cars to SIXT as the much ballyhooed deal of Tesla with Hertz entailed, too.

"In an initial step, SIXT orders several thousand of pure-electric vehicles from BYD, the first of which will be available for SIXT customers in Europe in Q4 2022," reads the company's press release, while the rest of the batches will be delivered gradually over the next six years.

BYD will initially supply its ATTO 3 electric SUV to SIXT, of which it sold 23,503 units in September, out of a record 94,941 electric vehicles it shipped then. For comparison, Tesla delivered 343,000 EVs for the whole of Q3, making BYD its main competitor in terms of electric cars sold. According to SIXT's Chief Business Officer:

SIXT offers easy-to-use, flexible, and limitless mobility to its customers every day. With over one million units produced from January to August 2022, BYD is the world’s largest vehicle manufacturer in the area of eMobility. The agreement with BYD is an important milestone to deliver on our promise of putting significantly more e-cars onto the street. We are very much looking forward to our cooperation with BYD.

The ATTO 3 is built on its e-Platform 3.0 version and sports BYD's innovative phosphate blade battery that Tesla will soon begin installing in its Model Y as well.

The ATTO 3 model with 60.48 kWh battery pack is rated for a 510km (316 miles) of range on the overly generous CLTP cycle. It accelerates from 0-62mph in 7.3 seconds with 150kW motors that have 310Nm of torque. The e-Platform 3.0 prioritizes internal space, returning a rather roomy ATTO 3 interior for its fairly compact 4,455 x 1,875 x 1,615 mm dimensions.

BYD recently launched a number of its electric cars in the West, pricing the ATTO 3 compact crossover in Europe at 38,000 EUR, quite a bit higher than what its equivalent goes for in China. The ATTO 3 is built on an 800V charging platform that allows the blade battery to be topped up to 80% in about 30 minutes with compatible chargers.

Get the Tesla Motors 24' Cable Wall Connector on Amazon