Blink Charging reaffirms commitment to U.S. manufacturing with new facility to expand charging capabilities and support growing EV sales and Administrations ambitious EV charging infrastructure plans
The new facility will add up to 300 additional highly skilled U.S. manufacturing jobs and will produce Buy America compliant AC Level 2 (L2) and Direct Current (DCFC) chargers
Estimated capacity for the new facility will have a minimum of 10,000 DCFC’s and 20,000 to 40,000 L2 chargers per year
Previously, Blink called for increased capacity from their Bowie, MD manufacturing facility from 10,000 units to 50,000 units between now and 2024. Today’s announcement will further increase U.S. charger production to 100,000 chargers per year.
Miami Beach, FL (October 18, 2022) – Blink Charging Co. (Nasdaq: BLNK, BLNKW) (“Blink” or the “Company”), a leading owner and operator of electric vehicle (EV) charging equipment and services announced today, following a roundtable discussion with U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, its commitment to establish a new manufacturing facility in the United States, which will create new jobs and increase charger production capacity to meet growing market demand.
Blink has launched its search to locate a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in the United States that will provide up to 200,000 square feet of space, with future potential growth, and will create an estimated 300 additional jobs for highly skilled workers such as engineers and manufacturing personnel to Blink’s current workforce. The brand-new facility will utilize the latest technology to manufacture both DCFC and Level 2 Chargers. The facility will have initial production capacity of 10,000 DCFC, and 20,000 to 40,000 Level 2 (AC) chargers.
Blink employs over 300 staff in the U.S. with its headquarters in Miami Beach, FL with other offices and facilities in Tempe, AZ, Bowie, MD, and Los Angeles, CA. With its international staff, Blink boasts nearly 600 employees worldwide with overseas offices in the Netherlands, UK, Greece, Belgium, and India. Along with its internal staff, Blink works with a diverse group of suppliers and contractors supporting another 700 estimated jobs nationwide. The addition of jobs at the new facility reinforces Blink’s commitment to American manufacturing, bringing the estimated total number of the company’s workforce in the U.S. to nearly 600 employees over the next several years.
Blink has retained the global commercial real estate services firm, Cushman & Wakefield, for its search and has narrowed the U.S. site location to a handful of states including Florida, Texas, Tennessee, and South Carolina.
“We are excited to assist Blink with identifying a location for and executing on the delivery of a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in the U.S. Blink is a power player in the electric vehicle charging space and this facility will be paramount in supporting their future growth,” said Andy Heymann, Managing Director at Cushman & Wakefield.
“This is an incredible opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to building Blink EV chargers here in the U.S. and play an integral role in the development of our national EV infrastructure while creating valuable American jobs,” said Michael D. Farkas, Chairman and CEO of Blink Charging. “At Blink, we are dedicated to helping build out America’s EV charging infrastructure and contributing to the economy with high-end manufacturing jobs, along with the indirect positions that come from installations, operations, and maintenance. We look forward to working with the Biden Administration and Secretary Walsh to keep manufacturing here in the U.S.”
Blink’s commitment to American manufacturing is matched by the Biden Administration’s commitment to the EV industry. Through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the Biden Administration has set America on the path to achieving the President’s goal of strategically placing 500,000 chargers on the nation’s roadways to seamlessly transition the country to electric vehicles. These historic pieces of legislation will accelerate transportation electrification while creating good-paying American jobs and helping reduce emissions across every sector of the economy.
While visiting Blink Charging’s corporate office, Secretary Walsh reasserted the Administration’s pledge to make EV charging more affordable and accessible while generating new economic opportunities that support good-paying jobs across the country. Reshoring of U.S. manufacturing jobs will drive the nation’s economic growth.
“Blink’s commitment to Made in America is a crucial example of how public-private partnerships can be leveraged to create good-paying, union jobs while also cutting pollution and improving American energy security,” said Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh. “The Biden-Harris administration is proud to highlight this level of involvement from industry partners as we implement historic investments to secure our domestic EV supply chain and rapidly develop a nationwide EV charging station network.”
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About Blink Charging
Blink Charging Co. (Nasdaq: BLNK, BLNKW), a leader in electric vehicle (EV) charging equipment, has deployed over 51,000 charging ports across 25 countries, many of which are networked EV charging stations, enabling EV drivers to easily charge at any of Blink’s charging locations worldwide. Blink’s principal line of products and services includes the Blink EV charging network (“Blink Network”), EV charging equipment, EV charging services, and the products and services of recent acquisitions, including SemaConnect, Blue Corner and BlueLA. The Blink Network uses proprietary, cloud-based software that operates, maintains, and tracks the EV charging stations connected to the network and the associated charging data. With global EV purchases forecasted to rise to 10 million vehicles by 2025 from approximately 2 million in 2019, Blink has established key strategic partnerships for rolling out adoption across numerous location types, including parking facilities, multifamily residences and condos, workplace locations, health care/medical facilities, schools and universities, airports, auto dealers, hotels, mixed-use municipal locations, parks and recreation areas, religious institutions, restaurants, retailers, stadiums, supermarkets, and transportation hubs. For more information, please visit https://blinkcharging.com/.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release 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 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.