BYD has partnered with the car rental company Sixt to supply 100,000 “new energy vehicles” (or, NEV as they are known in China) through to 2028. This was first announced on Tuesday by BYD Europe after signing a long-term agreement with Sixt.
The initial part of the partnership with the car rental company would include the locally available BYD Atto 3. BYD will deliver “several thousand” of these to Sixt in Europe during the fourth quarter of 2022.
The first customers to experience BYD EVs as a rental would be in European countries of Germany, France, the Netherlands and the UK.
BYD has been ramping up production and its exports with just announcing the largest production month ever. September saw BYD with over 200,000 NEVs produced for local and international markets like Australia.
Of that, 7,736 was for export markets and that is ramping up quickly to keep up with the launches in many different markets.
Partnerships with rental companies are important for the growth of EVs and their uptake. Sixt currently offers EV rentals in Australia at most major airports. Their fleet currently has Tesla Model 3s and MGs with plans to expand it to other brands.
The step in Europe to now have more affordable EVs like the BYD Atto 3 is quite positive to see. That way, many more people are able to experience an EV whether it’s while traveling or on business trips.
I covered the importance of EVs in fleets when test-driving Hertz’s EV range of Polestar 2s in Australia. Car hire platform Evee also presents this opportunity for drivers, and because it is driven by EV owners it has a wide range of EVs to choose from.
Many more people can get behind a wheel of an EV and see if it fits their lifestyle by renting it out for an extended period because sometimes a 30 minutes test drive just isn’t enough time.
Rental companies have an opportunity here to provide EV experiences in an affordable way. This is highlighted by the Sixt-BYD partnership. Along with that, it also helps reduce fleet emissions as rental cars travel longer distances than many private vehicles.
It would be great to see more affordable EVs in rental fleets and we look forward to the day when it’s the same price to rent a Toyota Rav4 as it is to rent an all-electric BYD Atto 3. That’s when thousands more Australians will be able to get behind the wheel of an EV.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne. He is a mechanical engineer who worked all around Australia building infrastructure for the first 7 years of his career 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.
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