One of the great things about living in Shanghai is that you don’t need a car. Most of the time. But when you do, the Uber luxury car app should help.
Shanghai’s compact city centre means that those of us who live near downtown can get around reasonably well for our daily needs using the metro, walking and hopping taxis when needed. Which is good because China’s high car prices, restrictive tariffs for car licenses and high parking fees make owning a car expensive (not to mention the hassle of finding a place to park near anywhere that you would care to go).
But when you’ve got an important business meeting, hot date, or just want to look like you’ve got some substance, then it would be nice to have a car – preferably a fancy one.
That’s the niche that online car provider Uber has filled in the US, Europe, and now (quietly) in Shanghai.
A bit of explanation
Uber is a mobile app that you can use to order a luxury car to pick you up now and take you want to go. No asking the secretary at your office, no flagging a taxi on the street, and best of all it’s a real car.
You pay for the time,and distance you use, just like a regular taxi, but the experience is much better – if more more costly.
I Tried It Out Today and It Rocks
Here’s how it works:
I download the Uber app to my uber-hip 小米手机, register and enter my credit card details. (You can also sign-up at uber.com).
Once set up I just open the Uber app on my phone and summon my personal limo with driver.
The app is location based and has great maps in English and Chinese, so it knows where you are and its easy to show where you want to go.
GOOD NEWS!
The nice people from Uber have seen this blog post and are offering a $20 credit to anyone who enters the following promotion code.
MichaelColeSH
Just tell them Michael sent you! (And remember, don’t share this promo code with anyone I don’t like, and you owe me a beer next time I see you).
You can use the app to get a fare quote, or just go ahead and order your car.
In my case, the closest car was a Benz S class, driven by Dave, who was 10 minutes away. Sounds good to me.
Once I select the driver, the system sends me a text to let me know that my ride is on the way, and to confirm when the car is about to arrive. You can also follow your driver’s progress across town on the map (if you are one of those people).
When Dave arrives, he’s on his best behavior and the car looks great. No taxi logo, no meter – if a client was riding in the car with you he or she would never know this wasn’t the car you take every day.
Dave and Uber whisk me from my Tongren Lu headquarters to the Bund for some lunch.
Hey! The interior matches my hair!
When I arrive at the Bund, Dave shows me the fare at the same time that I receive a message on my mobile showing me the fare and asking me to rate the ride. Total damage was RMB 104 which is automatically charged to my credit card – no need to hand over cash on the spot. And I give Uber (and Dave) 5 stars. The fare in a normal taxi would be 25-30 RMB.
That cake I was talking about…
Then its time to join my buddy Jean-Georges for a meal that matches up with the ride. If you do stop by to see J-G make sure that you don’t leave without the Jean-Georges chocolate cake.
Note of Warning – Uber is still in soft launch in Shanghai so cars are limited. No word yet on when the service will be fully scaled up or when it will move into other cities in China.
More About Uber
The company first launched in 2009 and the mobile app was introduced in 2010 in San Francisco. The service is now available in 26 cities in North America, and 18 countries worldwide.
In Asia, aside from Shanghai, the company also is currently in the process of launching in Taipei, Seoul and Singapore, as well as Bangalore India.
The company has encountered regulatory hurdles in some markets in the US, but is not expected to meet the kind of obstacles that taxi bidding apps such as Didi Dache have been faced with in China because the pool of cars that they draw from are not considered a public resource in the way that taxis are.
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