Blink Charging has unveiled an agreement with the City of San Antonio, Texas.
The award makes Blink Charging the provider of EV charging equipment for the city’s EVSA programme aimed at increasing access to public EV charging infrastructure.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Initially, the award will see the company deploy up to 140 Blink-owned level 2 charging ports and 3 DC fast-charging stations throughout the city.
The company won the bid after a competitive process and approval by the San Antonio City Council. Blink said it was able to offer the city a cost neutral proposal for the EV charging programme through its ownership model. Blink and the City of San Antonio will share ongoing revenue from the charging stations.
“It is a testament [to] the quality of Blink products and services and the differentiation of our business models, which are our key competitive differences in the EV charging industry,” said Blink founder and CEO, Michael Farkas.
“Encouraging widespread adoption of EVs is core to Blink’s mission and this includes minimising barriers to EV charging for all residents. Texas continues to be a growth market for us and for EVs and this project will help to increase public awareness by increasing the number of charging options available in the State.
“We are committed to bringing affordable, convenient and efficient charging stations to the growing number of EV drivers.”
The first phase of the agreement will see 50 dual-port Blink owned chargers deployed in locations around the city. Blink will analyse suggested publicly-accessible sites by conducting assessments across San Antonio in order to identify locations for its IQ 200 Level 2 EV charging stations.
This project supports the City’s EV San Antonio programme led by the Office of Sustainability. EVSA is a multi-faceted programme designed to support electric transportation and EV drivers through education, encouragement, infrastructure and policy with a focus on equity.
Emissions from the transportation sector are the second largest contributor to San Antonio’s greenhouse gas emissions according to SA Climate Ready, Climate Action & Adaptation Plan.
To support its business model, Blink plans to apply for grant funds from the State-wide Texas Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Programme (TxVEMP through the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). This US$10.4m fund is specifically for establishing Level 2 charging across Texas in order to improve air quality.
“Through our analyses, we know large sections of our city are without EV charging infrastructure or have limited charging options,” added San Antonio deputy chief sustainability officer, Julia Murphy.
“We hope additional charging infrastructure that is publicly-accessible, will relieve range anxiety and communicate San Antonio is an EV-friendly city.”
