Blink Charging Launches New EV Charging Products for Fleets at CES
With seven new products spanning home, fleet, multifamily, and retail charging, Blink is providing the industry’s only complete, end-to-end solution for the EV ecosystem and addressing critical EV charging infrastructure needs
Blink Charging Co. launched seven new products at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES), an unprecedented achievement in the company’s 13-year history.
The new products include the MQ 200, HQ 200 (Smart and Basic models), Vision IQ 200, and 50kW DC Fast Charger, which offer next-generation EV charging technology across the EV ecosystem, including home, fleet, multifamily, and retail.
EV Charging Companies Push Faster At-Home Charges, V2G and Connectivity at CES
January 9, 2022 - With dozens of electric passenger cars and commercial fleets expected to hit the market in just a few years, EVs are pushing into the mainstream.
Charging companies and smaller startups pitched products that were faster, more connected, easier to use, easy to install and built to work with the electrical grid. EV charging companies revealed products designed from commercial fleet charging to at-home charging, from vehicle-to-grid tech to monetizing advertising space on chargers.
With the global EV charger market expected to grow from $3.23 billion in 2020 to nearly $11 billion in 2025, the industry still has space for new entrants before it consolidates around a few giants, many of whom did not grace CES with demos or news.
U.S. Hybrid Electric Car Sales Hit Record Highs
January 6, 2022 - Pure electric cars are making all the headlines, but their gasoline-electric hybrid rivals quietly achieved record sales in the United States last year, industry data showed.
U.S. sales of hybrid vehicle sales jumped 76% to 801,550 vehicles last year, accounting for 5% of U.S. light vehicle sales, according to data from analytics firm Wards Intelligence. Sales of EVs also jumped 83% to 434,879, but represented a meager 3% of the market.
Pure EVs run only on electricity and require charging infrastructure, while hybrid EVs combine a conventional combustion engine with an electric propulsion system. "Hybrids offer a really intriguing mix of fuel economy performance without some of the huge drawbacks that electric vehicles present," Brett Smith, technology director at Center for Automotive Research, said.
How ‘Feature Bloat’ is Driving the Chip Shortage
January 9, 2022 - What if the auto industry’s best solution to the chip shortage was not simply making more chips? Suppose we instead got a handle on what might be called “feature bloat” - the tendency, fueled by sales competition, to slather new cars with as much technology as possible?
The bad news for consumers: the feature bloat is unavoidable and getting worse. Given the chip shortage, tech expectations are not likely to be met.
“It’s more feature bloat than software bloat,” said Sam Abuelsamid, principal research analyst for e-mobility at Guidehouse Insights. “The software is only there to make all the features work, and do we really need 30-way power adjustable seats with five massage-pattern options? Or sequential taillights, multi-zone automatic climate control and audio systems with concert hall and studio settings? The insatiable desire to one-up the competition is what’s driving this.”
You May Be Able to Own a Self-Driving Car After All
January 8, 2022 - For years, automakers have told a specific story about how self-driving cars would arrive in the world. They would be shared and electric, fleets of ride-hail vehicles shuttling passengers like fancy taxis.
Now, almost a decade into the self-driving experiment, the future looks more complicated. Progress on AVs has slowed and that has the companies looking for other ways to make money off self-driving tech.
“The easiest way to actually make money from autonomy is to offer it as a feature for the consumer market,” says Mike Ramsey, an automotive analyst with Gartner.
Meanwhile, cameras and sensors like lidar have gotten cheaper. The result: Some players are shifting, subtly, to a new business strategy—selling automated features directly to consumers.
