Car sharing platforms in Singapore: A price comparison

As the government eases social distancing measures, more people will begin leaving their homes to get to work and get errands done. If you don't have your own car, utilising the many car sharing platforms could be a good option to minimise your contact with strangers.

But just which platform will give you the best rates for car sharing?

sgCarMart breaks down the different rates offered by the various car sharing platforms so you know which will best cater to what you're looking for!

The occasional user

Whether it's for the occasional trip to Ikea or to send relatives off to the airport, car sharing could help you shave significant minutes off your travel time. But how much will each firm shave from your wallet?

For this comparison we assume you will be getting into the cheapest car sharing scheme and sharing a car from the lowest tier offered from each firm, but won't be subscribing to any of their long-term subscription plans or offers.

We will also be using a benchmark 30km, two-hour long trip for comparison across all platforms, and assuming you rent the car starting from 3pm on a Wednesday afternoon.

Car Club - Singapore's oldest car sharing platform

Car Club charges $10 for the first hour of every car booked, with an additional $2.50 for every 15 minutes after the first hour for its Economy segment cars using its Basic Plan.

There is also an additional mileage charge for sharing from Car Club, at $0.40 per km, bringing the final sharing charge for our simulated trip to $32.

Tribecar - No membership fee, minimal hassle

Tribecar meanwhile, charges $4.82 per hour for the booked period in its Economy Sedan segment, but requires you to fill the car up with petrol yourself.

We have utilised the current petrol pump price of $2.05 (before discounts) being offered across most retailers for 95-octane grade petrol and assumed that your rental will only require two litres of petrol for the 30km trip to arrive at a final fuel cost of $4.10, bringing our final sharing cost from Tribecar to $13.74.

WhizzCar - 14 years in the business

Whizzcar charges $18.29 for the first hour, and $8.46 for every additional 30 minutes with its Whizz-Ezzy scheme to book a car in its Economy* segment, which allows you to avoid paying the $10.70 monthly membership renewal charge.

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Under this scheme, you will also receive 20km of free mileage for booking a car for two hours, so the mileage charge only applies to the final 10km, and is charged at $0.43 per km.

The final charge for booking a car on WhizzCar on our simulated trip is thus $39.51.

It is worth noting here that WhizzCar charges a one-time registration fee of $107, even for those intending to join the Whizz-Ezzy scheme.

*WhizzCar also offers a Super Economy segment, but since no cars are currently listed within that segment, we have used the second-lowest Economy tier rates for this comparison instead.

Car Lite - Lowest per minute rate in town

Car Lite charges $1.00 for every 15 minutes a car is booked from their lowest tier, making the total charge for booking a car for two hours $8.

We have applied the same fuel assumptions as we did with Tribecar to calculate your fuelling costs with Car Lite, since you likewise have to pay for your own petrol with Car Lites' lower tier car sharing options, bringing the fuelling cost to a total of $4.10.

The final cost for sharing with Car Lite thus adds up to $12.10. Do note that to Car Lite makes its charges through a digital wallet which charges for top ups at up to $1.00 for any top up that is less than $99.

BlueSG - Electric car sharing by the minute

BlueSG only charges by the minute the shared car is booked by you. At a rate of $0.33 per minute, the final cost for completing our two-hour simulated trip is thus simply $39.60. However, do note that BlueSG charges a membership fee of $8 every month, even for the Basic plan.

Those new to the platform can get a free one-month trial.

The table below lists the final costs for the trip performed across all platforms.

For occasional trips both Car Lite and TribeCar offer the most competitive prices.

Full-time car sharing

Of course, that's not the end of the story. Platforms such as Car Club and WhizzCar also offer the customers the option to sign up for more dedicated plans designed to bring down the cost per km for frequent users of their respective platforms. So just how low can you expect prices to reach?

Car Club - Reduced charges on the Value Plan

Car Club's value plan only requires a $50 monthly commitment, which is returned to you as driving credits. In exchange, you get a reduced car sharing rate of $9 for the first hour, as well as a rate of $2.25 for every subsequent 15 minutes when sharing a car from the Economy tier.

You also get 8km of free mileage for the first hour of booking and an additional 2km for every additional 15 minutes you book the car.

Mileage charges are also reduced to $0.30 per km, bringing the final charge on our trip to $22.20. ($18 for a two hour booking and $4.20 for the outstanding 14km)

WhizzCar - Extra value at just $10.70 a month

WhizzCar's Extra Value Plan meanwhile, will get you a car from the Economy segment at just $11.93 for the first hour, with an additional charge of $5.44 for every next 30 minutes.

Sharing from WhizzCar's Extra Value Plan will also get you 20km of free mileage for the two hours the car is booked, so with a mileage charge at $0.43 per km, you will only pay $4.30 for the last 10km of our simulated trip, bringing the total cost to $24.96.

Do note, however, that a monthly membership fee of $10.70 applies to join any of WhizzCar's plans outside of the Whizz-Ezzy scheme. The one-time registration fee of $107 also still applies, and there is a monthly $60 minimum usage charge for WhizzCar's Extra Value Plan.

BlueSG - 45 minutes of free rental a month

BlueSG's Premium plan comes in at $18 a month, and for that cost you get 45 minutes of free rental every month.

However, you do not get any reduction in the cost per minute charge for sharing a car, so while you may be able to squeeze one or two free trips a month by subscribing to BlueSG's value plan, the final cost to each regular trip remains the same, at $39.60.

The table below lists the costs for the same trip performed on the platforms that offer better rates for its regular users.

While Car Club's Basic Plan demanded a high price for our simulated trip, the generous free mileage offered by signing up to its Value Plan was enough to bring a $9.8 price reduction. The cost per trip from WhizzCar meanwhile, drops by $12.40.

However, once you add the fact that WhizzCar charges a monthly membership fee of $10.70, it still looks like those looking for an affordable car sharing option to use regularly will still be better off sharing from Car Lite.

So what's the catch?

As you can see, there is a sizable difference in the cost offered by the different firms. While it may look like Car Lite has emerged a clear winner by price comparison alone, there are a few things you might still want to consider before opting for your preferred platform.

To begin with, you'll want to check if there is a Car Lite sharing station near your home. With 80 plus car sharing locations, you are less likely to find a Car Lite car sharing station near to your home when compared to Tribecar and BlueSG, which both boast over 300 stations from which you may grab a car.

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Another important thing to note is that while Tribecar and Car Lite are far more competitive options when it comes to price.

Both Tribecar and the basic sharing tiers from Car Lite will require you to make a detour during your trip to fill the car with petrol and pay for it yourself.

Car Club meanwhile, only requires you to top up on the shared car's fuel if it reaches below a quarter of the tank's capacity, but the cost of the petrol will be paid for by Car Club.

So there is no additional cost incurred by you even if you fill the tank right up to full, making it an option for those that don't want the hassle of working out just how much fuel you used for each trip.

And even between Car Lite and TribeCar there is a point of difference to note: Car Lite requires you to return the car with at least a quarter of fuel in the tank, while Tribecar only requires the low fuel warning light to not be on when you return the car.

This means that if you get anxiety from driving around a car with the low fuel warning light already on, getting a car from Tribecar means that your first stop will likely have to be the petrol station itself.

We think that it can be a bit more of a hassle to head to the pumps first and guess how much petrol you should pump into the car, as opposed to sharing from Car Lite, where you at least get the option to make your trip first with the one quarter of fuel, before heading to the petrol station where you can simply continue to pump more petrol until you make up the deficit you have used.

And what about BlueSG?

Some of the more eagle-eyed amongst you might have noticed that BlueSG has not fared competitively in our price comparisons. So why would you opt to share a car from the platform?

Well, if the environmental benefits of driving an electric car mean nothing to you, there is also the fact that BlueSG allows you to pick one of their vehicles and return it at any one of their 300-plus locations throughout the island.

This is something that Tribecar and Car Club do not offer.

So if you don't mind walking a little further to the next location to find another car for the return trip, you only need to book and pay for the precise time you actually spend in the car (remember, their pricing is per minute).

Not entirely convinced? Well then it might also be worth considering that if you need a car to drive into the central business district or are heading into Orchard.

You will get the option to drop off the car and make a second booking later, thanks to the fact that BlueSG offers street-side charging stations even in these regions.

So even if you are looking to make a return trip into the city, you still could potentially save on the parking costs that will otherwise have to be paid yourself if you share on the other platforms.

This article was first published in sgCarMart.