Blink CEO expects global growth in Level 2 EV chargers

EV infrastructure company Blink Charging (BLNK) topped its full-year revenue target while beating its third-quarter earnings estimates. CEO Brendan Jones expects significant growth for EV chargers, telling Yahoo Finance that he forecasts Level 2 charging stations — charging available for at-home, workspace, and public use — to represent 90-95% of charging globally.

"What Level 2 charging takes advantage of is dwell time. Unfortunately, according to the Department of Transportation, the vehicles sit 95 percent of the time, so it's easy to charge them when they sit," Jones explains.

Click here to watch the full interview on the Yahoo Finance YouTube page or you can watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live here.

Video Transcript

RACHELLE AKUFFO: It was an electric third quarter for EV charging company Blink. After handily beating its full year revenue target in the third quarter, the company raised its outlook for the year thanks to robust demand and higher network use fees. Despite some industry reports of slowing EV demand, Blink is forecasting the market for charges to grow and with it, the demand for more robust charging infrastructure.

The company now has its sights set on hitting positive adjusted EBITDA run rate by December of next year. Joining us now, Brendan Jones, Blink Charging CEO. Thank you for joining us again, Brendan. So talk about this bumper third quarter that you had here. What does that mean in terms of where you go from here in terms of capturing more market share and also growing your customer base as well?

BRENDAN JONES: Yeah, we're-- it means we continue to do what we're doing and that is focus on our fundamentals to grow the strength of the company and continue to capture market share and that market share is coming from the fleet space multifamily dwellings, it's coming from municipal charging. And what we have to focus on is the majority of charging we install and own or operate is a level 2 charging, which, including the Bloomberg price, Coopers Waterhouse, and many other research firms, that's going to be 90% to 95% of the charging that takes place globally, and it's also economic to install.

So what we're finding out now, as there's lots of talk about DC fast charger, the real charging solution that's going to take care of the majority of people who buy electric vehicles is level 2 and that's where you saw the robust sales coming in. But also, we do quite a bit of work on DC fast charging as well, and that's primarily for public use and fast charging. That is expanding dramatically.

And the other thing we can look at is the numbers. By 2030, we need 30 million chargers in the US at the current pace, so that's a huge amount of market share. So what Blink needs to do is make sure that--

AKIKO FUJITA: Brendan--

RACHELLE AKUFFO: As a result-- yep.

AKIKO FUJITA: Let me follow up on that level 2 comment you just made. Why is the vast majority that you're looking at going to be level 2? I mean, I will say as an EV driver myself, I-- hours and hours of charging is-- it takes a little patience, right? You could argue that the reason why Tesla has done so well is because they have those superchargers in place.

Why isn't the bigger chunk DC fast charging? Is it infrastructure? Is it a cost issue?

BRENDAN JONES: It's not-- it's also convenience. What level 2 charging takes advantage of is dwell time. Unfortunately, according to the Department of Transportation, the vehicles sit 95% of the time so it's easy to charge them when they sit. Even on Tesla cars, the majority of their drivers charge at home and charge where they have high dwell time. And then when they need a quick fill up, they go to the supercharger stations.

So that's the reality in charging globally is we only have so many capital dollars to put charges in the ground. Use them economically, charge where-- put the chargers where people dwell and where they sit-- at home, at the grocery store, at the ballpark, wherever you need that health care facilities.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: So Brendan, say you are a Tesla driver, and you're seeing these options here, what would make them pick a Blink Charging station versus if they could go to a Tesla supercharger? What's the appeal for some of these other-- for these other manufacturers?

BRENDAN JONES: You have quick and convenient. Supercharger stations are typically located outside of the metro area. If I go outside to the garage located next to the building here where our headquarters is, I'll find five Teslas charging up on Blink L2 chargers. It's convenience. So public L2 and multifamily dwelling and feed L2 is the way to go in terms of quick economic charging.

DC fast charging, which we do-- you can do, but it's about a 21 ratio on the economic cost much harder to install on that. So you're going to see this balance-- about 10% are going to be DC fast charging, the other 90% will be L2, and that's for both fleet and for personally owned vehicles.

AKIKO FUJITA: Brendan Jones, Blink Charging CEO. Good to talk to you today. Appreciate the time.

BRENDAN JONES: All right. Thank you very much.