Public and cloud-enabled EV charging stations

The Path to Drawdown: Electric Vehicle Chargers

Internal combustion engine vehicles still dominate transportation today, but electric vehicles (EVs) are about to transform that landscape. According to the IEA, there are now 11 million electric passenger cars and vans on the road, thanks to supportive policies and falling costs.

The difference in impact on the climate is striking. Compared to petroleum-based vehicles, CO2 emissions drop by 50% if an EV’s electricity comes from the conventional grid. If powered by solar energy, emissions are cut by 95%. Once households purchase EVs, the operating costs for those cars are often lower than gas-based cars, too.

But just as ubiquitous gas stations enable internal combustion engines, one critical factor for EVs to become the primary transportation method is a wider adoption of EV charging infrastructure. While most EV charging is done at home and work today, publicly accessible charging needs to be rolled out to encourage households without access to private chargers to opt for EVs.

For now, the ratio of chargers to EVs is far lower than it needs to be in most countries, with the US near the bottom of the ranking among developed countries at 0.06 chargers per EV. Companies and governments around the world are currently implementing policies and incentive programs to expand EV infrastructure networks.

To achieve an all-electric transport sector in line with keeping global warming under 1.5ºC of warming, the IEA projects a dramatic increase in the number of EV chargers globally between now and 2030:

There were 10.3 million EV chargers in 2020
There need to be 215.2 million chargers by 2030
35.5% CAGR between 2020 and 2030

About

Blink Charging (stock ticker: BLNK) is a Florida-based provider of public EV charging equipment and cloud-based software that enable EV drivers to easily recharge at locations throughout the United States. It’s looking to expand into the European market.

BLNK's Role in Drawdown

Blink Charging offers four types (p. 15) of EV chargers, geared toward residential and fast commercial EV charging, as well as an app-enabled network that allows drivers to view station locations, availability, pricing, and pay for electricity.

In 2020, Blink deployed 1,839 EV chargers, accounting for 0.02% of the global share. To maintain this market share as the supply of chargers increase according to the IEA’s projection, Blink would need to produce 11,605 chargers annually by 2025, and 38,422 by 2030.

This type of growth would require an annual production and sales expansion of 35.5% between now and the end of the decade. Given that Blink’s year-on-year growth has been limited to 0.81% since 2016, this may be a tall order. We are eager to see Blink grow at a faster pace.

BLNK: What We Like

The flurry of recent partnerships and acquisitions (p. 24) is an encouraging sign, and we think this is key to achieving the level of growth we would like to see:

Three acquisitions of EV charging companies in 2020-2021,
Seven partnerships and purchasing agreements since 2018

We also like Blink’s diversified revenue streams and client base. It obtains revenue from five sources: sale of electricity through its EV charging stations with long-term exclusive contracts, hardware sales, network management services, advertising on its chargers, and energy services. Its customer base includes a broad range of sectors, from parking, commercial and residential, healthcare, retail, education, entertainment and more. This diversification enhances Blink’s resiliency.

BLNK: What We Want to See Improve

Expand Faster

We applaud Blink’s recent efforts to expand through acquisitions. We look forward to a continuing and aggressive stance to expand EV charging deployment through additional acquisitions, accelerated production, and more proactive sales and partnerships.

Roll Out DC Fast Charging Technology

In 2019, Blink launched a joint-R&D of fast chargers with battery storage, which can be deployed anywhere, regardless of the location’s existing power grid capabilities. Blink is aiming for this technology to be chemical-free, environmentally friendly, and able to complete a full charging cycle within just twenty minutes. This would be a major advance of the Drawdown solution of EV charging, and we urge Blink to bring it to market on a large scale as soon as possible.

Set Clear Sustainability Targets

Blink’s business clearly advances the proliferation of EV charging, and therefore the electrification of transportation. Yet we know very little about the direct and indirect carbon footprint of Blink’s operations and distributions, or whether Blink is making an active effort to reduce their footprint. We would like to see Blink set clear targets for reducing GHG emissions by concrete dates, along with explicit metrics that allow investors to hold it accountable.