On June 6 and 7, the “Latam Mobility: Colombia 2023” took place in the city of Medellin, bringing together more than 700 attendees, leaders, companies and organizations who showed the progress, challenges and prospects of sustainable mobility in the country and the region.
One of the participating companies was Blink Charging, founded in 2009 and represented by Juan Carlos Barahona, its global director of operations, who introduced the services it offers in charging solutions and business models for electric vehicles.
Barahona explained that the company currently has more than 73 thousand chargers sold or installed in the countries where it operates, together with more than 4,400 refueling stations owned by Blink Charging. In addition, he indicated that they not only manufacture and install them, but are also responsible for the operation and functioning of these stations.
“Blink Charging’s platforms are used by more than 400,000 users in different countries. We are a vertically integrated company: we design and manufacture the charging stations, their operating systems and the management and charging platform that is available in different markets with local characteristics in each of them,” he said.
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Standardization
The Blink Charging executive indicated that the company has expanded its production capacity along with its product portfolio, which benefits its presence in Latin America. “The region is one of the few geographic areas where we do not have standardization, there are Chinese ports, GBT, CSS1, CSS2, and those varieties of products we can deliver as a comprehensive solution that meets the needs of each of the markets in the region.”
“In Latin America, we have been strengthening and driving electromobility penetration. We operate in more than nine countries, with more than 2,138 chargers sold, installed and operating directly, with a growth in the last two years of more than 115%. In addition, we have the capacity to offer, support and support other companies that want to enter the electromobility market, either by selling equipment, renting management systems or as a white label opportunity,” he said.
Barahona indicated that one of the characteristics that Blink Charging takes advantage of is the opportunity of the company’s verticality to develop different business models. “For Latin America, we are developing GBT port residential charging solutions, as well as a whole range of chargers with different characteristics, both in terms of connectivity and energy delivery, ranging from 30 kilowatts to 180 kilowatts.“
Models and Solutions
“In terms of the model, we seek to ensure that the majority have the opportunity, both individuals and companies, to get into the world of electromobility. We have developed business models that help companies turn their parking lot into a new revenue stream, through a hybrid model, or charging as a service (Blink as a Service) in which companies can have the advantages of equipment with proprietary features, but without the immediate capital investment effort to make the deployment,” explained Barahona.
Barahona indicated that Blink Charging‘s solutions are designed to be adopted by large companies or small business models that wish to have access to electromobility, and are adaptable to any business.
In relation to technology, Barahona said that for electric mobility it is essential to have reliability. “Having reliable platforms that allow you to manage the recharge, the vehicle, and the charging systems is very important, as well as being able to tropicalize the characteristics and needs of each of the countries where we operate, such as the subject of charges, taxes, or billing that changes in each country, so Blink Charging has a platform that adapts to the requirements.”
In relation to the mobile application, this allows the driver not only to identify public charging points, but also to have an integration with residential charging solutions to determine the performance and consumption of the vehicle. “Public and private charging information will become an important factor for companies with assigned vehicle fleets. Our platform includes these new concepts and all these new needs.”
“At Blink Charging we are aware that the key for electromobility to advance in Latin America is to make it open and accessible to all. It is important to sow flags, expand the offer and make it visible to drivers in order to generate confidence and to move from fuel to electric vehicles, as well as to integrate new technologies into society”, concluded Juan Carlos Barahona, global director of operations.
The following is the first day of the meeting “Latam Mobility: Colombia 2023“:
