City utilizes procurement program to provide much needed EV charging services for residents and visitors
Miami Beach, FL, Dec. 20, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Blink Charging Co. (Nasdaq: BLNK, BLNKW) (“Blink”), a leading manufacturer, owner, operator, and provider of electric vehicle (EV) charging equipment and services, today announced it will provide downtown Rockford, Illinios with EV charging stations thanks to a Region 1 Planning Council (R1) program to make charging stations more affordable and accessible for local governments. Blink was named as a key supplier after an extensive RFP (Request for Proposal) process.
The City of Rockford is the first local government to take advantage of a procurement program established through the Region 1 Planning Council earlier this year that helps local governments in Northern Illinois purchase Electric Vehicle Charging Stations at pre-negotiated prices. Through the program, the city has installed two Blink IQ 200 EV Charging Stations at a municipal parking lot at South Main and Cedar Streets, southwest of the Embassy Suites Rockford Riverfront Hotel. Each L2 charging station allows two electric vehicles to charge simultaneously.
“We are pleased to provide much needed EV charging services to local cities, schools and other governmental facilities as demand for reliable charging infrastructure continues to grow,” said Brendan Jones, President at Blink Charging. “Region 1 Planning Council has been instrumental in moving the adoption of EVs forward and we applaud their efforts to ensure the accessibility and convenience to EV chargers through this program.”
Participation in the program is open to members of the Northern Illinois Council of Governments (NorthCOG), a nonprofit membership-based organization of Northern Illinois local governments that is staffed by R1. NorthCOG provides a platform for its members to develop a shared legislative agenda to increase public and private investment in Northern Illinois. Additionally, NorthCOG provides opportunities for its members to reduce the cost of government operations through public-private partnerships such as this EV Charging Station procurement program.
“In Rockford, we are focused on sustainability and stand in support of advancing needed transportation alternatives for our region,” said Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara. “We were excited to take advantage of the procurement program developed by our partners at R1, and to be one of the first municipalities in our region to deploy EV charging infrastructure. We hope that investments like this will continue to help strengthen our community’s future readiness.”
Blink is a nationwide leader in EV charging equipment and networked EV charging services, enabling drivers to refuel at thousands of locations throughout the United States. This experience across a diverse set of property types, will enable Blink to work with key government personnel to help them understand the program, assist with optimization, and work through all interconnect, service upgrade, and related issues.
R1 staff will help local governments pursue state and federal grants that will become available in the coming months to further reduce the cost of purchasing and installing EV Charging Stations. Local governments that wish to participate in the Blink EV Charging Station procurement program can contact R1 Director of Economic Development & Policy, Isaac Guerrero at 815-319-4181 or iguerrero@r1planning.org for more information.
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About Blink Charging
Blink Charging Co. (Nasdaq: BLNK, BLNKW), a leader in electric vehicle (EV) charging equipment, has deployed nearly 59,000 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 include 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://www.blinkcharging.com/.
About R1
Region 1 Planning Council (R1) is a special-purpose, regional government agency. Regional councils are public organizations comprised of local elected officials that promote collaboration among local governments, working across the jurisdictional silos of states, counties, and municipalities. A regional council depends on intergovernmental collaboration to foster economic and community growth; through planning, research, federal funding, and data. For more information, visit http://r1planning.org.
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.
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