Launch of Blu Ride-Sharing Service
Last night, I attended the pre-launch of a new ride-sharing service. It's called Blu and is offered by Autonom, the largest car rental company in Romania.
It will be available to the public around mid-October, but you can already download the app if you want to see what it looks like, though you can't book a ride yet.
In fact, Blu's slogan is "Journeys, not races." Because, from what I understand, they aim to offer a premium service, with more carefully selected cars, with more elegantly dressed drivers, who are professional drivers, instead of amateur drivers. Well, that makes me think more of a taxi company, not ride-sharing proper, but we'll see...
The truth is that anyone who has used Uber over the years has noticed that the quality has dropped significantly compared to its launch in 2015. So, some competition in terms of comfort, cleanliness, and elegance was welcome. The prices remain to be seen, of course. But I think that, unlike Uber, which aimed for the mass market, to reach everyone, to be used by everyone, Blu seems to propose targeting a smaller, more niche segment of the market, people who value quality over price. And who probably can afford it.
Tesla Taxi
The most interesting part is that they will have many electric cars available in the app, including many Teslas, the most Tesla cars currently available at any ride-sharing company. There's even an entire category dedicated to Tesla, out of the six available in total. Compared to three at Uber. For Tesla fans who can't afford to buy a car, this is probably a dream come true. If you're going to be stuck in traffic anyway, at least be in a Tesla.
Speaking of traffic, the app's IT system is developed in Malta, the country with the most complicated streets in the world, say those from Autonom. This is information I can't quickly confirm anywhere, but I'll take their word for it, as I imagine such a project wasn't built overnight; it might have even taken a few years, enough time for thorough research.
However, an important differentiator seems to be something else: 24/7 customer service. If you've ever had a problem with Uber, you probably know it's difficult to impossible to get in touch with anyone from them. And if you're a legal entity and need documents, the headache might be even bigger.
This corporate segment will be a focus for those at Blu, as they have emphasized an important benefit for companies rather than individuals: monthly invoicing. Instead of having to account for each ride, each receipt, you receive a nice invoice with all rides at the end of the month. I didn't even know this wasn't possible at present. But here we see that someone seems to have studied the market.
It will be interesting to see if the market can still support another ride-sharing service, alongside Uber, Bolt, Free Now, Spark, CityLink, and whatever else there may be.
P.S: If you still have doubts about the sustainability of an electric car, I invite you to watch the interview Electric car vs. gasoline car.
