Professionals and car rental companies have also begun overhauling their fleets with a gradual transition to all-electric vehicles. Sixt, which is well known for its colorful advertisements on television, as well as in train stations and airports, has just announced a decision that is, to say the least, strange.

Really, the company will no longer offer Teslas for lease as it aims to electrify its fleet by 70-90% by 2030. An official notice has been published informing customers of this decision. Currently, Sixt no longer buys Tesla cars is gradually reducing the number of these models in its fleet.

Calculations are bad

But why such a radical decision when, as we regularly report in Auto Plus magazine, Tesla is one of the best electric cars on the market? This decision arose not because of any specific dissatisfaction with the brand and its products, but rather because of a great concern: residual value.

We remind you that the residual value corresponds to its value at the end of the useful life. It can be zero or positive if the asset has been used for a short period after which it will be sold. And on Tesla’s side, this residual value issue seems more important than anywhere else.

Typically, rental companies enter into buyback agreements with brands to resell their vehicles. But the buyout agreement was not concluded with Tesla.

And to make matters worse, Tesla’s price swing strategy also adds a dose of uncertainty, making it difficult to make accurate predictions about the models’ residual value two, three or four years from now.

At the same time, as Hertz CEO Steven Scherr noted, in addition to Tesla’s price drop, which is hardly encouraging, he also mentions “repair costs are higher than expected”.

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