- Collaboration sees Parkopedia adding nearly 12,000 Blink public chargers to its in-car EV service
- Parkopedia grows its global network of charger locations, while Blink services are delivered directly to EV drivers, with charger locations being visible from vehicle head units
- This cooperation provides US drivers with a seamless charging experience across a greater number of chargers and facilitates the collection of new charging data, enabling Parkopedia to provide more accurate charger availability predictions to drivers
22 September 2023 - London, UK / Florida, USA
Connected car service provider Parkopedia and one of the largest Charge Point Operators (CPO) in the US, Blink Charging, are working together to provide EV drivers with an improved charging experience. Parkopedia users are now able to access nearly 12,000 Blink public chargers across more than 4,000 US locations, directly through their vehicle head units, providing EV drivers with the greatest possible convenience and charger visibility.
This agreement further increases Parkopedia’s presence in the North American market, 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 increasingly accurate parking and charging availability predictions, as part of a more complete EV charging experience.
This addresses US EV drivers’ most significant concerns, cited in the 2023 Global Driver Survey, including nearly 60% being concerned about finding charging away from home and more than 1 in 3 drivers struggling to find EV public charging locations “all the time” or “very frequently” - both higher figures than any other featured country in the survey. Furthermore, 53% of US EV drivers shared they have been unable to charge when needed previously due to chargers being occupied by other vehicles on arrival.
More concerningly, 73% of American EV drivers have run out of charge before - again more than drivers in any other country surveyed. As a result, 92% of US drivers would be more likely to purchase an EV if it had ‘Park and Charge’ functionality to simplify the process of finding suitable charging. These survey 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.
Parkopedia regularly validates parking and charging data to ensure that accuracy is as high as possible, 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 scope of the collaboration to provide even more solutions in future, with the ambition of further streamlining the process of parking and charging for 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.”
“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 a variety of platforms.”
