Blink Charging shows new chargers ready for Plug&Charge at CES
Blink Charging has launched seven new products at the CES in Las Vegas, moving deeper into the smart charging and commercial space. The charging solutions cover home, fleet, and retail charging as well as vehicle-to-grid technology. There’s also two new apps for private and commercial users of Blink products.
The new products displayed at CES include three charging station suites ranging from 50 to 80 amps and a 50 kW DC fast charger. The new equipment is V2G, and smart home ready since Blink Charging relies on ISO 15118 to enable Plug & Charge.
In detail, there is the MQ 200, a 50-amp charging station designed with fleets in minds since the station is scalable to include multiple fast chargers at one location. Blink names multifamily dwellings as another use case.
The HQ 200 (Smart and Basic models) is made for home charging and includes vehicle-to-grid and load-sharing technology (Smart), making it “perfect for a household with multiple EVs,” according to the company. The HQ 200 charger connects to the new Blink Mobile App via 5G.
The Vision-IQ 200, equipped with one or two 80-amp chargers, however, communicates with the Blink Network via LTE or Wi-Fi connections. The column with LED display appears to be ready for advertising, and Blink says the station can use any form of payment, i.e. RFID, Apple Pay, Google Wallet, and credit cards. It can also be deployed using local load management and features smart grid functionality, so the company.
The same is true for the and 50kW DC fast Charger that delivers up to 50 kW output or 25 when parallel charging two vehicles. It supports CCS, CHAdeMo and GBT standards. The company also points out that the DC Fast Wall 50 kW is the size of a flatscreen TV and connects to the Blink services.
Blink also launched two new apps at the CES for said network, namely the Blink Mobile App and the Blink Fleet portal. The latter software platform connects chargers, vehicles, fleet managers, and drivers and can be integrated into existing platforms via API. In addition, blink adds, the fleet app also includes AI-enabled charging to automatically set when, how much and how quickly to charge vehicles, as well as a Smart Grid functionality to communicate with local utilities and avoid off-peak hours.
The Blink Charging Mobile App now allows expanded keyword search for drivers to find nearby amenities to a charging station for private drivers. For charging, drivers may reserve charging sessions, favourite frequent charging stations and set reminders to take advantage of off-peak electricity rates. The app also enables interoperability with other charging providers’ networks.
In addition, Blink Charging emphasised its “owner-operator” model. The new app will give Blink site hosts more control surrounding pricing, allowing them to more closely mirror real electricity costs and adjust charging rates to EV drivers in response, says Blink. It will also feature more robust reporting to allow hosts to manage their costs better and understand the use at each location.
Blink Charging has yet to disclose pricing and availability but has listed all four charging stations, including sales sheets.
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