Guangzhou, China, September 21, 2017 – eHi Car Services, a nationwide car rental chain, held a test-drive event for its shared car brand “HiCar” in Guangzhou on this morning and announced the official launch of HiCar after the trial operation phase, now available for service in the city. Mr. Cai Lihong, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of eHi Car Services, attended the event. He stated that shared car services are an important part of the car rental industry, and eHi Car Services is confident in providing Guangzhou citizens with high-quality and convenient car usage services.
Currently, the sharing economy is booming globally, and with the backdrop of China's "mass entrepreneurship and innovation" initiative, related sectors have been developing vigorously. Shared models such as car-sharing, bike-sharing, and homestay-sharing have flourished across the country. In April this year, eHi Car Services launched the trial operation of HiCar in four first-tier cities—Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen—and has since expanded to ten cities. This move serves not only to continuously improve and optimize the service system but also to explore the shared car market.
It is reported that after officially launching in Guangzhou, HiCar will maintain its existing charging and service models. The entire service process consists of just three steps: “download the HiCar app – book with one click – return with one click.” A new user promotion has also been launched, offering 5 coupons worth 20 RMB each upon registration. HiCar’s pricing is similar to that of taxis: a starting fee of 15 RMB (including 30 minutes of use), plus a mileage fee of 1.8 RMB per kilometer (billed per 0.1 km) and a time fee of 0.2 RMB per minute for usage exceeding 30 minutes. Additionally, HiCar offers a daily rental option, recommending a day rental plan for usage exceeding 2 hours.
Cai Lihong said that eHi Car Services previously offered car rental services based on hourly, daily, and monthly billing models. The per-minute billing model of HiCar is an effective supplement to the service system, and its self-service model will also provide users with a more convenient car usage experience. “In fact, per-minute rental billing is part of the sharing economy, and hourly or daily rental billing is also part of the sharing economy. They can be converted into each other at any time according to consumer needs.”
“For example, a customer may originally plan to rent a car for 30 minutes, but due to changes in usage scenarios or needs, the rental period may extend to several hours or even days. From the perspective of scientific management and rational utilization of resources, the Ministry of Transport issued the 'Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Healthy Development of the Car Rental Industry (Draft for Solicitation of Comments)' in June this year, encouraging the development of car time-sharing rentals and even full-scale car sharing rental models, which is very forward-looking,” said Cai Lihong.
Industry observers pointed out that unlike traditional car rentals, which are usually billed by the day, shared cars billed by the minute mainly meet the demand for short-distance urban transportation. They offer flexibility with on-demand pick-up and return, and are billed by the hour and mileage. With sufficient pick-up and drop-off points, they can replace the need for taking taxis or owning private cars. When combined with new technologies such as autonomous vehicles and self-driving cars, the potential becomes even greater.
As a pioneer in the concept of car sharing, eHi Car Services, leveraging its strong corporate capabilities and relying on its advanced central data service center and comprehensive vehicle dispatch system, has created an O2O car rental system that disrupts traditional car rental models. The launch of HiCar further improves eHi Car Services’ existing car usage service system, effectively increasing vehicle usage efficiency and better meeting consumers’ increasingly diverse car usage needs.