Friends,
As summer officially comes to a close, many people view this time of the year as an opportunity to reset and refocus, turning the page on summer leisure and embracing a “back to school” mentality. Here at Blink, we had a busy and productive summer, and our pace never slowed, so while we welcome the seasonal change, our focus remains on continuing to drive and heighten the growth momentum in our business.
During June, July, and August 2020, Blink sold or deployed 539 EV charging stations across 24 states and four countries. We achieved this nearly 100% increase versus the same period of 2019 despite the challenges related to Covid-19 lockdowns, which continued in many places throughout the summer. In the U.S., 300 charging stations were sold or deployed commercially, with 209 of those being Blink owned and operated, and 91 sold directly to a host location. We sold or deployed 178 new level 2 IQ 200 units, with 120 of these being “swaps” from first-generation chargers, in keeping with our initiative to upgrade equipment in the field when we have that opportunity.
Notably, California represented 37% of the installations, adding to our more than 1,250 units already in the state. An additional 200 chargers were also added with the BlueLA acquistion. Our continued growth in California reflects our efforts to strengthen our sales force and resources to address the opportunities represented by the state’s combined hybrid/electric vehicle market, estimated at 13.2% of vehicles in the EV market in 2019.* Our efforts in expanding our California footprint are especially critical at this time, as the state is fully committed to electric vehicles as announced by California Governor Newsom in his executive order to ban the sale of new gas-powered personal vehicles by 2035.
Internationally, Blink deployed 105 charging stations, including 52 locations in the Dominican Republic through our partnership with InterEnergy, 50 in Greece through our partnership with Eunice Energy, and 3 in Israel. We also deployed our first of several planned charging stations in Puerto Rico.
As you know, our ability to continue to expand our footprint, both domestically and internationally, is a key component of our growth, and we’re very pleased to have significantly increased our market presence despite the pandemic conditions.
In another exciting development that further leverages and expands our existing California presence, we’ve acquired BlueLA Carsharing, the contractor for the EV carsharing program for the City of Los Angeles.
The acquisition doubles the number of Blink stations in Los Angeles, supporting the City’s goal of making the use of electric vehicles more accessible to the community at large while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions to reduce resident exposure to pollutants that are harmful to public health. BlueLA’s carsharing program is groundbreaking in its focus on making EV use available and affordable to low-income families and communities of color. We’re proud to have this opportunity to enlist our state-of-the-art charging equipment and established mobility partnerships to play a meaningful role in the City’s plan to bring zero-emission vehicles to its most air quality challenged areas.
As urban centers across the country transition to more environmentally friendly EV transportation models, we believe there is a tremendous market opportunity for the EV carsharing prototype we’ll now be part of in LA. We’ve always recognized the importance of making clean transportation alternatives available to everyone. We’re energized by the potential to replicate this EV carsharing and infrastructure program for other cities across the country.
Finally, I’m proud to note that as of September 18, 2020, Blink was added to the CIBC Atlas Clean Energy Index, and on September 21, we were added to the NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index. Our addition to these indexes recognizes Blink’s leadership role and success to date within the EV charging industry, as well as our growth potential. Blink management has always prioritized shareholder value, and we believe our inclusion in these indexes will heighten investor awareness and positively impact our liquidity.
As we head into fall and next week’s emphasis on electric vehicles during National Drive Electric Week, we see a tremendous opportunity to expand our position as a leader in the marketplace. As the adoption of EVs accelerates the need for infrastructure reliant on charging equipment and services. I believe we have the best people and technology to support the EV revolution and look forward to driving Blink’s continued success.
Best,
Michael D. Farkas
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
*Electric Vehicles Registrations by State, US Dept. of Energy, Alternative Fuels Data Center.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Data derived from IHS Markit light-duty vehicle registrations in 2018.
California had approximately 256,800 electric vehicle registrations as of Dec. 31, 2018.
https://afdc.energy.gov/data/10962
*California Auto Outlook. Published by California New Car Dealers Association.
Release February 2020
State New Vehicle Market Predicted to Remain Strong in 2020
https://www.cncda.org/wp-content/uploads/Cal-Covering-4Q-19.pdf
Forward-Looking Statements
This C-Suit Memo contains forward-looking statements as defined within Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements, and terms such as “anticipate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “will,” “should” or other comparable terms, involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. Those statements include statements regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of Blink Charging and members of its management, as well as the assumptions on which such statements are based. Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, including the potential benefits that we may obtain by being a member of the OpenADR organization and those described in Blink Charging’s periodic reports filed with the SEC, and that actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. Except as required by federal securities law, Blink Charging undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed conditions.
