BlueSG

BlueSG (stylised as blueSG) is a Singaporean company providing electric car sharing and electric car charging services.[3] Announced in September 2017, the company, a subsidiary of the Bolloré group, launched the service in December of the same year, with 30 charging stations and 80 all-electric Bolloré Bluecar for public use on a paid subscription basis.[4]

BlueSG Pte Ltd
TypePrivate
IndustryCar rental
Founded2017 (2017)
Headquarters16 Science Park Drive, Queenstown, Singapore
Area served
Singapore
Key people
Franck Vitte (Managing Director)
Services
S$ 5.2 million (2019)[1]
S$ 9.3 million (2019)[2]
ParentBolloré
Websitewww.bluesg.com.sg

On February 5, 2021, it was announced that BlueSG would be acquired by Goldbell Group, a Singaporean commercial vehicles and industrial equipment distribution and leasing company, with the acquisition to be completed by August, 2021.[5][6] As of December, 2020, the company had 374 charging stations located across Singapore and a fleet of 667 cars.[7]

History
Bolloré Bluecar Bluecity in Hammersmith, London

In June, 2016, Bolloré signed an agreement with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and the Economic Development Board to develop an electric car-sharing programme. On September 27, 2017, BlueSG announced with LTA to launch Singapore's first large scale electric car sharing programme, with the service's electric car supplied by Bolloré. The company also opened their Asia-Pacific headquarters for its e-mobility, energy management and system integration business for the region.[8] Bolloré used to operate several similar electric car-sharing services such as Autolib' in Paris, BlueIndy in Indianapolis and Bluecity in London, but failed to achieve scalability and has since ceased to operate in these 3 cities.[9][10][11]

Construction of the charging stations began at the end of September, 2017 and in December, 2017, the service was officially opened to the public with 30 charging stations and 80 cars located throughout the island.[4] BlueSG planned to expand the service to offer 2,000 charging points in 500 charging locations, with 400 charging points open for public use and 1,000 electric cars deployed by 2020.[12] In January, 2018, within the first 3 weeks of operations, over 3000 members signed up for the service, with 5000 rentals completed.[12]

In December 2018, it was announced that BlueSG will open its charging stations to privately owned electric vehicles from the first quarter of 2019.[13] The charging service was officially launched in April 2019, with a total of 25 charging stations open to privately owned electric vehicles on a yearly subscription basis.[14]

Acquisition by Goldbell

Announced in February 2021, Goldbell Group, a Singaporean company, would be acquiring BlueSG and the acquisition is expected to be finalised by August of the same year, after being in discussions since June 2020. While the company would be acquired by Goldbell, the Bolloré group would continue to operate BlueSG's existing charging stations.[5] According to Singapore's Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, BlueSG has been in a deficit since it's launch, with the company making a loss of S$9.3 million in 2019.[2] After the acquisition, Goldbell would be investing around S$70 million in the company within the next 5 years to expand BlueSG's services and fleet, with plans to set up a new research and development centre that will be developing new mobility technologies and algorithms and to expand the service regionally.[15]

Operations and fleet
Two Bolloré Bluecars parked at a BlueSG charging station in Punggol.

Anyone aged 21 years and above with a valid Singapore driving license, ASEAN driving license or an International driver’s permit can sign up for the service through the BlueSG mobile application or their official website. Users can choose between 2 rental plans, with per minute fees of S$0.33. BlueSG introduced 2 rental packages on October 1, 2019 and the packages are for durations of 3 hours and 5 hours rentals respectively, which are only available from Monday to Friday.[16] An available car can be booked through the mobile application or at the charging station itself. A parking space can also be reserved through the application prior to returning the car to the charging station, or users can park at any available lot that is not already reserved.

The table below summaries the subscription types available, the subscription fees, pricing for the per minute rates and rental packages:

BlueSG service fees and use rates[17]
Plan Membership Subscription fees Rates per minute Rental Packages Remarks
Premium6 MonthsS$18 per monthS$0.33S$ 39.90 (3 hours)
S$ 49.90 (5 hours)		45 minutes free rental per month
BasicNo CommitmentS$8 per monthN/A
Private EV charging service

The BlueSG charging service was officially launched in April 2019, with users having to sign up for the charging services through BlueSG's official website and a yearly subscription fee will be charged in addition to per-minute charging fees.[14]

The table below summaries the subscription types available for the charging service:

BlueSG charging service fees and use rates[18]
Plan Membership Subscription fees Rates Remarks
Charging Service1 YearS$20 per yearS$1 per hour$1 per hour (First 3 hours)
$2 per hour (Subsequent charges)

Fleet
Main article: Bolloré Bluecar

The service uses the all electric Bolloré Bluecar, which were adapted to suit Singapore's left-hand traffic. It is a three-door hatchback electric car with four seats and has a 30kWh lithium metal polymer (LMP) battery, coupled to a supercapacitor, that provides an electric range of 250 km (160 mi) in urban use, and a maximum speed of 120 km/h (75 mph).[19]

  • Bluesg Bluecar with the 100 stations celebratory livery.
  • Front view of the Bluecar.
  • Bluesg Bluecars parked at a station.
  • Bluesg station in Ang Mo Kio.

See also

References
  1. "BlueSG". Tracxn. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  2. "Electric car-sharing outfit BlueSG poised to be sold". The Straits Times. February 1, 2021. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  3. "BlueSG Pte Ltd Information". The French Chamber of Commerce in Singapore. Archived from the original on June 19, 2018. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  4. "SINGAPORE'S FIRST LARGE-SCALE ELECTRIC VEHICLE CAR-SHARING PROGRAMME TO HIT THE ROADS IN DECEMBER". Land Transport Authority. September 27, 2017. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  5. "Goldbell Group confirms BlueSG acquisition, to invest more than S$70 million over next 5 years". Channel News Asia. February 5, 2021. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  6. "GOLDBELL GROUP ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION OF BLUESG". Goldbell. February 5, 2021. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  7. "S'pore Electric Car-Sharing Firm BlueSG Confirms Acquisition By Goldbell Group". Vulcan Post. February 5, 2021. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  8. "Singapore's first electric car-sharing programme to launch in December". Channel News Asia. September 27, 2017. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  9. "Paris: Autolib electric car scheme 'to end in days' after authorities pull the plug". The Local. June 19, 2018. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
  10. "BlueIndy electric cars will be repurposed — or crushed". Auto Blog. May 31, 2020. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
  11. "Bluecity service has permanently closed since 10 February 2020". Bluecity. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  12. "More than 5,000 BlueSG electric car rentals in first 3 weeks of service". The Straits Times. January 3, 2018. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  13. "BlueSG will open charging stations to privately owned electric vehicles from next year". The Straits Times. December 1, 2018. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  14. "BlueSG opens charge points to electric vehicle owners" (PDF). April 23, 2019. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  15. "Goldbell confirms acquisition of BlueSG; commits $70m to turn it around and expand business". The Straits Times. February 5, 2021. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  16. "BlueSG's Electric Vehicle Car-Sharing announced the opening of its 1,000th charging point, across 253 charging stations island-wide". Eco-Business. October 1, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  17. "Car Sharing". BlueSG. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  18. "Charging service". BlueSG. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
  19. Bluecar. "bluecar La citadine 100% électrique" (PDF). Retrieved 2018-04-16.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.