SINGAPORE - Electric car-sharing operator BlueSG will begin opening its charging stations to third-party electric vehicles from the first quarter of next year.

The firm, a subsidiary of French conglomerate Bollore Group, made the announcement on Tuesday (Dec 11) to mark the first anniversary of its operations here.

Charging stations at Housing Board and private carparks, as well as those operated by the Urban Redevelopment Authority and JTC, will be made available to private users.

BlueSG managing director Franck Vitte said further details, such as cost, will be announced later.

The firm had earlier announced that about 20 per cent - out of around 2,000 charging points at 500 locations it expects to have across the island by 2020 - will be made available to private electric cars.

Users will be able to sign up for the service on BlueSG's website, said Mr Vitte, adding they will have to pay an annual fee in addition to per-minute charging fees.

He added BlueSG uses the Type 2 standard for electric charging, meaning all electric vehicles currently commercially available in Singapore will be able to use its charging points.

The news comes after utilities provider SP Group announced in October that it intends to double the number of electric vehicle charging stations it aims to roll out by 2020 from 500 to 1,000.

Within the next six months, BlueSG will also introduce corporate membership plans, under which companies will be able to rent BlueSG cars for their employees.

The firm has also set up a partnership with property developer CapitaLand to offer its charging stations at five of its malls - including one at Plaza Singapura.

It will also open charging stations at Our Tampines Hub and Sentosa.

BlueSG, which has 54 staff, will also conduct research and development projects in the areas of smart cities and intelligent transportation, together with local research institutes and corporations.

"This activity will be based on our expertise in electro-mobility, energy storage and information systems," said Blue Solutions managing director Marie Bollore.

The firm currently has a fleet of 300 cars, as well as 531 charging points at 135 locations.

By the end of this year, it expects this number to grow to 591 charging points at 150 locations.