Due to high costs and expensive repairs: This is why car rental company Sixt is removing Tesla from its fleet

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Tesla no longer has a future with car rental company Sixt. According to the news of the German newspaper “Automobilwoche”, the industry giant will no longer offer the brand’s new vehicles in its fleets in the future. At the same time, the inventory of Tesla vehicles in Sixt’s car subscription offering will also be reduced. “Tesla vehicles currently in our fleet will be sold after they expire, thus gradually reducing their numbers,” said a Sixt company spokesperson.

This also applies to Switzerland: Tesla models are not included in the car rental company’s product range. According to Automobilwoche, Tesla regrets the decision. For many customers, a leased or subscribed Tesla is a good introduction to electromobility.

Cost is a reason

But Tesla’s end doesn’t mean Sixt is moving away from electromobility: By 2030, 70 to 90 percent of Sixt fleets should consist of electric vehicles, according to a company spokesperson. Sixt recently signed a contract with Chinese automobile giant BYD for 100,000 electric vehicles. At the end of the third quarter of 2024, one in five cars in the Sixt fleet was electric, i.e. battery electric, as a hybrid or plug-in hybrid.

So why is Sixt banning Tesla from its fleets? The car rental company puts forward commercial reasons for the lower prices of new Tesla cars, such as the high purchase price or the low residual value of the vehicles at the end of their life. Surprising: Sixt also cited high repair costs as a reason for leaving. Because they have far fewer wearing parts, electric vehicles are thought to be less prone to failure than combustion engines and are also cheaper to maintain. And: Sixt wants to continue having electric vehicles from other brands in its fleet.

Are Stromer repairs more expensive?

But a study by the Association of German Insurers (GDV) concludes that repair costs for electric vehicles in the event of accident damage or parking collisions are approximately 30 to 35 percent higher than for comparable internal combustion engines. According to GDV, the reasons for this lie in the expensive damage to drive batteries and the hesitancy of some garage owners when dealing with electric cars, resulting in longer downtimes and higher hourly wages. However, Sixt still wants to continue offering electric cars from other brands.

The deeper reason for Tesla’s split from the car rental company likely lies in the Tesla vehicles themselves: Three years ago, the US electric pioneer changed the design of its best-selling Model 3 and Model Y to applause from CEO Elon Musk. Body structures were radically simplified to reduce production costs. The rear of the Model 3 now consists of two complex castings rather than approximately 70 separate parts. This saves assembly time on the assembly line, as well as the cost of molds and tooling, as well as additional fastening material. In Model Y, the rear part now consists of a single large piece.

Instead of replacing parts, everything is new

These savings in production become a problem during repair after an accident: In the event of a rear-end collision on the Model Y, for example, instead of replacing damaged sheet metal parts one by one, the entire rear end must be replaced – almost a year before the new rear part of the vehicle. It is clear that repairing accident damage is much more expensive than replacing individual parts.

According to “Automobilwoche”, Sixt could certainly dream of offering Tesla again in the future if the costs of the vehicles were again in line with the company’s pricing structure.

Source: Blick