Charging for a car-lite Singapore
The future of mobility is changing rapidly. According to The Guardian, there are now more than a million electric cars in Europe after sales soared by more than 40% in the first half of 2018. Coupled with a greater focus on sustainable living and clean energy, more companies are developing green solutions, like electric vehicles (EVs), to meet these evolving needs.
Championing such green mobility solutions is BlueSG, the first provider of electric car-sharing services in Singapore. As a novel transport service, what prompted BlueSG’s launch in Singapore in 2017? How does it stay innovative while adapting to the unique needs of the local market?
We speak with Anne Lehman, Innovation Manager at BlueSG, to find out the answers to these questions and her insights into urban mobility solutions.
1. BlueSG is Singapore’s first car-sharing service. What was the motivation behind introducing such a service in Singapore?
BlueSG launched the very first 100% electric car-sharing service in Paris in 2011. The service offers not only on-the-go electric car rentals on a pay-per-minute basis, but also guaranteed space at the destination for parking and charging.
It’s a brilliant idea for commuters to use, rather than own, non-polluting cars as and when they need a ride. This was also paving the way towards Paris’ long-time ambition to become a car-lite city.
Like Paris, Singapore has a very high population density and a clear vision to reduce private car ownership. Transparent governance and good infrastructure were among other factors that attracted us to establish our service here, reduce the number of cars on the road and complement a growing public transport network.
2. Can you describe some of BlueSG’s innovation that makes it unique from other car rental services out there?
The innovation aspect comes from a simple idea: share an asset rather than own it. There should be additional benefits too. For instance, offering a pre-paid parking slot according to the driver’s exact destination and time of arrival became the added advantage of using BlueSG. But of course, we needed to apply the right technology to provide such a service (see sidebox for details).
3. Is the Singapore market ripe for eMobility? How open do you think local users are to the concept of eMobility?
The exponential adoption of our service and that of e-scooters shows how eager users are for such solutions. What still needs to be ironed out is the overall legal and tax frames and the charging infrastructure. We believe that wider user adoption is inevitable once these are addressed.
4. What’s next for the eMobility and car-sharing industry?
Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is imminent. All mobility solutions, be it public or private, short- or long- term, electric or mechanic, are one click away on a single platform. It offers the commuter an end-to-end journey by combining micro-mobility, car-sharing, public transport and Mobility on Demand (MOD) at one glance, and in one transaction. With the rapid development of MOD, shared mobility devices may even become the only urban mobility solution to solve the exponential growth of cities and their need for smooth traffic.
5. How does BlueSG cultivate an innovation mindset within the company and continue to push boundaries?
We think of innovation as having a magic wand. That’s how the ideas flow before we figure out how to manifest them in the real world.
We expect innovation to come from everyone, at any level of the hierarchy. Individuals are allowed to fail so that they are not discouraged from trying new things.
Thomas Edison who invented the light bulb said: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Iteration and failure are part of the innovation process. Just ask Steve Jobs’ team how many times they had to re-work a product before the launch.
6. As an entrepreneur and innovator yourself, do you have any tips for people to keep thinking out of the box?
Be curious about anything and anyone. Read, listen, look, explore. Imagine having a magic wand. Expose your ideas to others, listen to their feedback and find practical answers and solutions to those.
Anne Lehman is Innovation Manager at BlueSG, the first electric carsharing service launched in Singapore. She was one of the panellists for the panel discussion on “Why we should care about everyday innovation” at the inaugural DBS Asia X Creativity & Innovation Day that took place on 16 April 2019.
