My 38-trips review with Electric Car (BlueSG)
Thank you for coming into this post to read more about my 38-trips experience with BlueSG, Singapore’s first 100% Electric Car Sharing Service, brought to you by a French company based in Paris, France Bolloré Group.
Quick Disclaimer:
I am in no connection directly with BlueSG and everything I have written is purely from own experience.
At the time of writing, I have clocked a total of 39 hours 41 minutes of rental and have spent about $257.95 with my first trip started on 19/12/2017. As I was the first 1,000 subscribers to hop onto BlueSG’s 1 Year membership plan, I was entitled 2 hours free daily till 31 Jan 2018, which is why I have been using this service daily.
I have drove in bright sunny day, on roads with heavy traffic, and in days with heavy rainy day, fetched up to 5 people, and have driven it all around Singapore. Sometimes the ride can get choppy, dont expect smooth 100% comfort from such lower end cars.
Let’s do a simple calculation assuming I do not have the entitlement.
As you can see from the screenshot above, the plan actually charge $0.33/minute. So if I have driven 39 hours 41 minutes, which is equivalent to 2381 minutes, multiply by $0.33/min, this amounts to $785.73! This is almost equivalent to paying the maintenance fee of a mid-range car, less the petrol, road tax, COE, interest, parking fee etc. This is also calculated based on the trips made by mefrom 19/12/2017 to 12/01/2018, which is about 25 days. So that amounts to about $31.43 a day and almost equivalent to 2 Grab/Uber rides.
How much did I drive?
38 trips in 25 days is about almost 2 trips daily, if you have not use it that excessively, I believe you could probably spend just halved of $785.73. My point here is that this initiative helps us to make wiser considerations between owning a car and sharing a car.
How is the eletricfying experience?
Starting your first rental
So assuming you have gotten your BlueSG card or BlueSG enabled card linked to your personal card, you are now ready to rent one!
- Reserve your station and parking lot(optional) via the app.
- Go to your reserved station.
- Tap your BlueSG card on the charging station.
- If you have a valid reservation, it will prompt you to key in your pin code.
- Once pin code is verified, tap your BlueSG card at the right door.
- Validate that you are fit to drive.
- Remove the charging adapter and plug it into the charging station.
- Open the door, turn on the ignition with the car key, perform your pre-driving drills and you are ready to go!
Ending your first rental …
- Wind up all the windows, off all the lights, keep all your belongings, turn off the ignition.
- Close the door and tap your BlueSG card on the card reader.
- Tap your BlueSG card on charging station.
- If there is a valid reservation, unplug the charging adapter.
- Plug into the car’s charging slot.
- Your rental has ended!
And with this, let me now leave you with …
10 Tips when using a BlueSG car
- Always ensure that you have a reserved parking lot at near your destination, and always remember to refresh your booking once it expires. Or you will end up far far away, customer service wont be able to help you much. Abandonment of a BlueSG car has a penalty charge of $300!
- Know the buttons well:
A. Full beam headlights (Lo to Hi)
B. Front window demister (clear front fogging)
C. Rear window demister (clear rear fogging)
D. Hazard Light
E. Fog lights (to improve visibility in foggy areas)
F. Car boot
G. Recirculation (on will light up orange led)
E. Rear Fog Light
H. Aircon switch
I. Call BlueSG Customer Service
J. Car central locking
K. City Mode (steering more lighter when enabled)
L. USB Charging port
3. Know your road or bring a car mount along to put your smart GPS devices for navigation purposes.
Because the in-car GPS system just doesnt work well and wont give accurate navigation.
4. Know your car state well.
So this screen with be your best buddy that tells of your battery level, tire pressure (in this picture, right tire might be a flat, “humming sound” disabled, A/C is on etc).
5. Facing technical difficulties is a norm, deal with it.
This service is still on its pilot phase here in Singapore, there ought to be many mishaps that can happen, especially when it relies on technologies fully.
Some possible “mishaps” are:
1. Reserved slot taken up by someone who didn’t reserve. (Solution: Call Customer Service and request for help)
2. Reserved slot not taken up but charging station prompt you technical error. (Solution: Call Customer Service to stop your time slot, try to cancel your reservation slot and re-book it and try again at the charging station).
3. Gantry prompt you to pay parking fee parked by BlueSG. (Solution: press intercom and request for exit)
4. Charged when going through ERP. (Solution: PAY! You will be billed for it.)
5. Reserved a car but cannot collect.
6. Foggy screen when driving.
You can turn defog by using the front window demister, turn on the A/C or wind down the windows.
7. Have a NETS-enabled card along to pay for your ERP and parking fees.
8. Waze is a more accurate map for Singapore as compared to Google/Apple Map.
However, you can also find some BlueSG stations marked in Google map.
9. Make friends with other fellow BlueSGers when you see them! Help them get going if they are stuck.
10. Keep the cars clean, drive carefully so we all can all enjoy BlueSG to the fullest.
Conclusion
So is BlueSG more affordable than Grab Uber or other taxi services? It depends. Driving to work faced with a traffic jam of 97 mins may end you up paying about $32, when you can actually take public transport where you probably pay a tenth of it.
So it is a matter of choice, driving own car provides you with more privacy and flexibility. You are not restricted to stop at a designated location, unlike Grab/Uber.
You can also now suggest a location to be added that may be near your
I believe BlueSG opens up a very big space for us to enjoy the flexibility of owning a car occasionally. The future of car-sharing is big and I am looking forward to see more cars available and more stations opening in the months to come!. Thank you for reading and happy BlueSGing!
Final words
If you had a license and it’s turning rusty because you just have no chance to drive a car, BlueSG will be one of your best choice. It is an auto car, easy to drive. ☺
Excellent Customer Service
While most of the times when we call the customer service, they are expecting some angry/agitated calls, I have to compliment them for always working so hard, around the clock, to keep the service going. Troubleshooting all the complicated issues we have yet wanting us to be satisfied customers. They have solved almost 100% of my issues and I am very very satisfied with their customer service. Keep it up! Both Facebook Messenger and Customer Service officer chat :).
Feel free to post any question here and I’m glad to answer them! Lastly, Please Clap if you feel this post useful!
