Zhaki Abdullah Straits Times 11 Dec 18;
SINGAPORE - Electric car-sharing operator BlueSG will begin opening its charging stations to third-party electric vehicles from the first quarter of next year.
The firm, a subsidiary of French conglomerate Bollore Group, made the announcement on Tuesday (Dec 11) to mark the first anniversary of its operations here.
Charging stations at Housing Board and private carparks, as well as those operated by the Urban Redevelopment Authority and JTC, will be made available to private users.
BlueSG managing director Franck Vitte said further details, such as cost, will be announced later.
The firm had earlier announced that about 20 per cent - out of around 2,000 charging points at 500 locations it expects to have across the island by 2020 - will be made available to private electric cars.
Users will be able to sign up for the service on BlueSG's website, said Mr Vitte, adding they will have to pay an annual fee in addition to per-minute charging fees.
He added BlueSG uses the Type 2 standard for electric charging, meaning all electric vehicles currently commercially available in Singapore will be able to use its charging points.
Located at The Pinnacle @ Duxton in Cantonment Road, the latest station is now accessible to its fleet of 230 cars and 17,000 registered members.
The news comes after utilities provider SP Group announced in October that it intends to double the number of electric vehicle charging stations it aims to roll out by 2020 from 500 to 1,000.
Within the next six months, BlueSG will also introduce corporate membership plans, under which companies will be able to rent BlueSG cars for their employees.
The firm has also set up a partnership with property developer CapitaLand to offer its charging stations at five of its malls - including one at Plaza Singapura.
It will also open charging stations at Our Tampines Hub and Sentosa.
BlueSG, which has 54 staff, will also conduct research and development projects in the areas of smart cities and intelligent transportation, together with local research institutes and corporations.
"This activity will be based on our expertise in electro-mobility, energy storage and information systems," said Blue Solutions managing director Marie Bollore.
The firm currently has a fleet of 300 cars, as well as 531 charging points at 135 locations.
By the end of this year, it expects this number to grow to 591 charging points at 150 locations.
BlueSG to open charging points to privately owned electric vehicles next year
Channel NewsAsia 11 Dec 18;
SINGAPORE: Electric vehicles owners will have access to more charging points next year, when BlueSG opens its charging network to third-party vehicles.
The electric car-sharing company announced this on Tuesday (Dec 11) to mark its first anniversary in Singapore.
"Private owners, after subscribing to the service, will be able to conveniently charge their vehicles either in HDB, URA, JTC or private car parks," said BlueSG in a media release, adding that it progressively roll out the service in the first quarter of 2019.
The company currently has 531 charging points islandwide, and aims to have 2,000 charging points by 2020.
BlueSG, a subsidiary of French company Bollore Group, said it has had a "successful" first year in Singapore, with more than 20,000 members and 100,000 rentals since its launch here.
As part of its planned expansion, BlueSG said on Tuesday that it will install charging stations in Sentosa, at Our Tampines Hub as well as at five CapitaLand malls.
Visitors driving to Sentosa in BlueSG cars from February next year will not have to pay island admission charges, said the company.
BlueSG also announced a new membership for companies which will be available in the next six months.
"Packages of rental hours will be made available to a number of drivers selected by the company which will be billed directly for the usage of their employees," said BlueSG.
Source: CNA/na(gs)
