Parkopedia and Blink collaborate to address US EV charging issues
An eye-opening survey has confirmed the reasons why US drivers are shying away from the transition to EVs. As a result, connected car service provider Parkopedia and one of the largest Charge Point Operators in the US, Blink Charging, are collaborating to provide EV drivers with an improved charging experience and thus encourage the transition to electric transport in North America.
Parkopedia users in the US can now access nearly 12,000 Blink public chargers across more than 4,000 locations directly through their vehicle head units.
Already successful in Europe and the UK, this agreement increases Parkopedia’s presence in North America, with the company expanding its ‘Park and Charge’ EV service for its various automaker customers. Additionally, the service gains ‘live’ availability data from Blink’s network of chargers, enabling the company to provide drivers with accurate parking and charging availability predictions, cited as one of the most significant concerns of US EV drivers in the 2023 Global Driver Survey.
Significant challenges facing US EV drivers
Commenting on the new agreement, Adam Woolway, Head of EV at Parkopedia, said: “We recognise that parking and charging are increasingly interlinked and we are continuing to simplify the charging experience for EV drivers, as seen in this new collaboration with Blink. We also recognise the significant challenges facing US EV drivers in particular, highlighted in our 2023 Global Driver Survey with the US topping the table for the majority of charging-related
issues - from failing to find chargers to running out of charge. We strongly believe that our connected car services and new integration with Blink will further support drivers and help prevent them from experiencing such issues in the future.”
In addition to 60% of EV drivers being concerned about finding charging away from home, and 1-in-3 drivers struggling to find public charging locations “all the time” or “very frequently”, 53% of EV drivers said they had been unable to find EV chargers that were unoccupied when they arrived. Most concerning is that 73% of American EV drivers have “run out of charge”. These figures featured higher than any other country in the survey, making these issues an obvious barrier to US EV adoption.
Over 90% of US drivers ready to transition to EVs
The survey confirmed this by revealing that 92% of US drivers would be more likely to purchase an EV if it had ‘Park and Charge’ functionality. These figures highlight the value of providing seamless charging experiences to American drivers, helping more drivers transition to EVs and reducing charging anxiety by preventing them from running out of charge or failing to locate suitable chargers while travelling.
“Our collaboration with Parkopedia creates a streamlined experience for EV drivers to conveniently access Blink charging stations across North America,” said Mike Battaglia, Chief Revenue Officer for Blink Charging. “The combination of Parkopedia’s excellence in serving drivers through convenience in parking accessibility and Blink’s extensive range of public EV chargers gives EV drivers confidence in finding a reliable charging experience wherever they are. This initiative builds upon our strategy of making it easy for EV drivers to locate Blink chargers through various platforms.”
Parkopedia regularly validates parking and charging data to ensure high accuracy, with ‘dynamic data’ helping to provide drivers with valuable parking and charging predictions for when spaces or charging stations are most likely available. Parkopedia and Blink are exploring the collaboration’s scope to provide more future solutions.
Image courtesy of Parkopedia
