Jaguar Land Rover Backs New Electric Car Chauffeur Service

Jaguar Land Rover is conducting trials of Havn, a new service that it has chosen to term as a premium chauffeur service that would use a fleet of all-electric cars. The trials are being held in London. Havn is funded by InMotion, the company’s venture capital and mobility services arm.

The Havn service initially would have a fleet of over 10 Jaguar I-Pace electric cars. In the event that the trials conclude successfully, Jaguar Land Rover plans to roll-out the service on a national basis.
The target consumer group for Havn comprises inner city residents seeking a sustainable but customer-focused luxury experience when they need to get to dinners, meetings and to the airport. Customers can use the Havn app to specify their preferences related to music, temperature, and even the extent to which they would like to interact with the chauffeur. There would be no more need to worry about having to put up with a chatty cab driver.

Drivers who are part of the fleet are required to wait an additional 30 minutes for journeys, and this is extended to an hour for airport trips, so that customers need not worry about minor delays affecting their booking. This is a unique feature that is being offered as part of the service to ensure that customer service is of the highest leveland remains at the core of Havn’s business model.

All the Jaguar I-Pace cars that are part of the fleet will have premium SE specs, gunmetal grey metallic finishes and black wheels to add to the touch of luxury. Other additional options include a fixed panoramic roof, privacy glass, heated rear seats and four-zone climate control. All customers who use a Havn car will also have access to the use of an iPad and wifi during their trip.

Joseph Seal-Driver, managing director for Havn, said that Havn is keen to offer Londoners a premium, sustainable and personalized experience, which is tailored through its intuitive app. The company has already signed up a number of corporate customers who want to enjoy a quality service but are keen on sustainability and hence would opt for a service that offers electric cars.
Seal-Driver said, “For our customers it’s crucial that we offer complete simple and transparent pricing with all Havn rides having no hidden charges or surge pricing. Journeys from Heathrow start from £60 and a journey from Old Street to Canary Wharf is around GBP 32 depending on traffic and time of travel.”

Havn drivers would be full-time employees of the company who will undergo very tough training. This training would provide them with the skills that they would need to provide the customer-focused experience that clients need. Unlike other ride-hailing companies, Havn would be using experienced chauffeurs and would thus ensure a high level of quality hospitality.

“Chauffeuring is very important to JLR,” said Havn head of business development Nick Ozy de Zegwaart. “This is of strategic importance with the new electric XJ on the horizon. We’re employing the chauffeurs to have a level of consistency, and we’re trying to bring in some of the etiquette that might have been lost in the race to the bottom with some of the other apps.”

Even the language used in marketing and the style of the operation of the new service is meant to be different. Positioned as a “smart casual” service, the Havn branding will have discreet “powered by Jaguar Land Rover” sub-branding, and plug-in hybrids like the Range Rover P400e are likely to be added to the fleet in the future.