On any given morning in Singapore, a Seize driver tops up his tank, watches the pump tick previous S$80, and wonders whether or not the numbers nonetheless make sense. They’re not alone. Throughout the island, 1000’s of private-hire and supply drivers are operating the identical calculation — and the reply is getting more durable to search out. Singapore’s ride-hailing sector is a USD 1.1 billion market with sturdy structural tailwinds: excessive urbanisation, restricted automotive possession, and a authorities committing SGD 1.5 billion to good mobility. However proper now, it’s additionally beneath critical stress — and the way its gamers reply tells buyers every thing about who’s constructed for the long term.
A market on edge
Singapore imports just about all of its gas, which implies international provide shocks land right here quicker than nearly wherever else. As of early 2025, 95-octane petrol has crossed S$3.40 per litre — surpassing even the peaks of the 2022 Ukraine battle. For personal-hire drivers who cowl their very own gas prices, this isn’t macroeconomics. It’s a direct hit to every day earnings. ComfortDelGro responded by elevating metered fares. Trans-Cab selected driver rebates. Seize, because the dominant platform, has needed to do each.
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Seize’s response: surcharges, assist, and technique
Seize rolled out two successive fare changes — a metered fare enhance, then a gas surcharge paid on to drivers — each operating by finish of Could. It additionally launched a S$1.1 million assist package deal of gas vouchers and money bonuses for supply companions. The message is evident: driver retention is an operational necessity. When pump costs spike, impartial drivers take in it personally. The platform’s solely decisions are to compensate them by way of surcharges — and threat shedding price-sensitive riders — or watch drivers stroll.
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The electrical hedge
For this reason Seize’s longer-term bets matter. Its GrabCab fleet is already totally electrical or hybrid, and in January 2025 the corporate introduced a partnership with GAC to deploy 20,000 EVs throughout Southeast Asia. The logic is straightforward: electrical energy prices might be hedged, timed, and negotiated centrally. Retail petrol paid out-of-pocket by an impartial driver can not. With the ASEAN taxi market forecast to hit USD 34.8 billion by 2030 — and operators from Indonesia to Vietnam racing to affect — the structural benefit of proudly owning your fleet is turning into unattainable to disregard.
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The robotaxi second
On 1 April 2025, Seize launched Ai.R in Punggol — Singapore’s first residential robotaxi service. The timing is sort of poetic: whereas battling a gas disaster rooted in human-driven operations, Seize concurrently stakes its declare in a mannequin the place drivers are elective. Ai.R gained’t transfer the financials but, however it factors to a price construction the place vitality procurement shifts from lots of of unpredictable particular person selections to 1 centrally managed fleet. Globally, Waymo and Baidu’s Apollo Go are already scaling quick. Seize is now in that race — in a city-state purpose-built for precisely this type of experiment.
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The underside line
The gas disaster is a stress check — and stress checks are revealing. Seize is absorbing near-term ache, transitioning its fleet to electrical, and planting a flag in autonomous mobility, all of sudden. The query for buyers isn’t whether or not this transition occurs. It’s who leads it.
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Disclaimer for weblog publish: This communication is for common info and schooling functions solely and shouldn’t be taken as monetary product recommendation, a private advice, or a proposal of, or solicitation to purchase or promote, any monetary product. It has been ready with out taking your aims, monetary scenario or wants into consideration. Any references to previous efficiency and future indications aren’t, and shouldn’t be taken as, a dependable indicator of future outcomes. eToro makes no illustration and assumes no legal responsibility as to the accuracy or completeness of the content material of this publication. This commercial has not been reviewed by the Financial Authority of Singapore.
