Starting last weekend, you can now order the super-car Tesla Model S as private ride thru the Drivr app if you need to get somewhere in Copenhagen. This is besides the regular taxi and private driver services that Drivr offers.
“The launch of Tesla as an option for a ride is a dream for us. For 12 months we have been working to launch the unique combination of environmentally friendly technology and comfort the Tesla offers, and now we are finally ready. It is hard to really comprehend. We are very happy and very proud to be the first with this!”
Says Nikolaj Køster, co-founder of drivr.
Drivr: taxi, private drivers and now also Green Cars
Having the Tesla as an option for rides is also a long term commitment from the Drivr team:
“We actually applied for licenses with our local partner to get the Tesla as a licensed limousine registered. We took the initiative and made sure it would happen.”
“We aim to do this in a larger level. We think making electric cars available, and cars of as high quality and luxury as the Tesla Model S, is an important step for the future. Besides the car is 100% green luxury, it will be run by professional drivers in a suit with a big smile and great service.”
Disrupting transportation
In a similar way to other startups such as Uber and Hailo, Drivr aims to vastly modernise ground transportation with the help of technology. They want to make it more convenient for both the driver and the passenger. However, all the companies have their own approaches.
“Unlike other startups in this area, our background with a vast network of cities worldwide and collaborations with taxi companies, gives us a great position to expand this service.”
Drivr, having started under the name Click A Taxi and as a taxi aggregation service, has given the startup a different business model then it’s main competitor, Uber.
“In our first iteration we could set up a new city in under 30 minutes. Right now we have a deeper integration, taking longer, but we aim to build up further on those initial experience and contacts.”
A different approach then Uber
On what differs Drivr to Uber the biggest player in this field, Nikolaj explains:
“We have a different approach to business then Uber. We partner up with local companies, and help them. Uber instead battles the local companies and sets up its own taxi operations. “
He also explains that they see themselves as a SaaS for the taxi industry, instead of a competitor. Their system with payment and bookings over the app is a smoother and far more efficient service then current technology used by Taxi companies.
“We now act more as a global credit card provider. Because we have such a high volume of transactions compared to a taxi company, we can offer them lower rates on their credit card processing fees. Our software makes the taxi companies transition from cash to credit card a lot easier, besides bringing a lot of other benefits.”
Having starting with only taxi services and operations, and only in the last year moving into the private driver sector, Drivr has taken the opposite direction of Uber, which has recently gone further towards direct taxi services.
“In the long run however the major players will offer both services, both private drivers as well as taxis. It’s about giving consumers the choice to get a ride from A to B, at all price points.”
There is certainly a lot happening in this space at the moment. However, when asked how he sees the competition, Nikolaj is relaxed:
“There is a lot of disruption going on, and there certainly is one big player in the school yard. But for us the main thing is to make a great product and make the world of transport a bit better. It’s a fun thing to build, and it’s very satisfying to enable better transportation and better service level to the public.”
We look forward to more green rides and in a lot more cities in the future!
