Technology innovations are usually disruptive, but they don’t have to be disasters for legacy players. Adapting is key. That’s what some gas-station operators are doing in the face of an existential threat from electric vehicles.
Wednesday,
Blink Charging
(ticker: BLNK) announced it was selected to provide EV charging equipment to Royal Farms, a regional fried chicken and gasoline chain that opened its first location in Baltimore in 1959, and now has about 300 locations in seven states.
Soon, drivers can charge their
Tesla
(TSLA) Model 3s or
Ford
(F) Mach-Es while enjoying some tasty fried chicken and hand-cut french fries.
Blink will install 30 fast chargers with 60 plugs. The fastest chargers are capable of providing an EV with roughly 50 miles of range in a few minutes. Some of the funding for the project is coming from the state of Maryland.
“EV charging must be convenient to be most effective, and this is an exciting step toward bringing convenience and accessibility to EV drivers in Maryland and Delaware,” Jim Nemec, Blink’s chief revenue officer, said in a news release. “Blink’s expansive range of charging solutions will help Royal Farm satisfy customer demand for EV charging at retail locations.”
Blink stock is downn about 2.2% in premarket trading at $3.50, while the
S&P 500
and
Nasdaq Composite
are up about 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively.
Royal Farms isn’t a publicly traded entity. The deal, for the food and gas provider, is an early example of how the transition to battery-powered cars will proceed in America. There are some 100 million cars registered in the U.S. and another 160 million trucks. Only about 2.4 million are battery-electric vehicles.
More charging infrastructure will be needed as the number of EVs grows, but there will be gas pumps coexisting with EV plugs for generations to come.
There are about 33,000 fast-charging plugs in the U.S. today, up from about 2,000 at the end of 2022. There are about 117,000 slower charging ports, the kind that deliver about 25 miles of range per hour, up from about 113,000 at the end of 2022.
There are about 150,000 gas stations in the U.S. with more than 1 million pumps. Making the transition to EVs shouldn’t require more than 1 million charging plugs in the U.S. Most EV charging is done at home.
Coming into Wednesday trading, Blink stock is down about 82% over the past 12 months. The company isn’t profitable yet, and rising interest rates as well as a slowing economy have shaped some investor enthusiasm for less-mature companies.
Blink’s execution looks fine, despite the stock drop. Wall Street projected about 2023 sales of $101 million to start the year. Estimates are now up to $116 million. Sales estimates for 2024 have gone to about $165 million from $153 million over the same span.
Write to Al Root at [email protected]
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