Blink Planning to charge $4.80/hr for parking (15 minutes after a charge is complete)

jackbowers said:

This starts July 20th. While very clever from a business model standpoint, it seems to disadvantage Tesla drivers, who must often charge overnight on the Blink Network's sometimes pathetically slow charging rates. But that may be the intent - perhaps now with hundreds of destination chargers now available, they just want us off their network. At any rate, I thanked them for letting us know ahead of time.

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IMHO, the Blink network is sort of like the restaurant where not only is the food bad, but the portions are small. The Blink chargers are, for me, usually on the blink, and their cost structure/business model just does not work for me.

jackbowers said:

This starts July 20th. While very clever from a business model standpoint, it seems to disadvantage Tesla drivers, who must often charge overnight on the Blink Network's sometimes pathetically slow charging rates. But that may be the intent - perhaps now with hundreds of destination chargers now available, they just want us off their network. At any rate, I thanked them for letting us know ahead of time.

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Only real issue is charge interruption. Other than that it makes sense: contention is the number 1 problem for charging. Blocking a charger stops it from handling other customers.

Looking at PlugShare. You are correct. Blinks or on the Blink.:scared:

I see both sides of their equation. They need to be dispensing electrons as much as possible for revenue purposes and to overcome demand charges for the month. If any car (not just Tesla) charges a bit and then the car is left there for several hours without charging and perhaps blocking someone else from using it, then Blink loses revenue. So there needs to be an incentive for a driver to move.

You can debate the amount of the penalty price they are going to implement, but something like this is necessary from a business perspective. Even at 49 cents per kWh, at least here in California, in many cases they are not covering their electric bill much less the other associated costs that go along with the charging stations...It's a tough business to be in...

It's an especially tough business to be in when you are surrounded by competitors that charge zero!

To me, Blink's pricing is set up so that they can be the network of last resort. When you really need it, you can count on a Blink charger to be available, but you will pay for it.
And in some cases yes I will gladly pay, but those circumstances are rare (for me). For Teslas, as Superchargers and destination chargers proliferate the chances of needing to use Blink go way down. That's fine in my book, so long as Blink stays in business and can provide a service for other EVs that need it.

It makes sense to incentivize people to move their cars after charging is complete. The problem is when cars are charging overnight and the charge finishes in the middle of the night. It's unlikely another car is waiting to plug in at 3 AM. I think it would be reasonable for Blink to have the "not charging" fee during the hours between 8 AM and midnight, for example, but if cars finish charging between midnight and 8 AM the fee should't start until then.

This is a non-issue for Teslas charging overnight as you can simply dial down the current so the charge ends when you're ready to pick up the car.

Blink, I remember them. They're the company that installed all those Hollywood set props of EV chargers that even sport realistic dislays of Windows blue screen of death messages. The degree of realism Blink achieved is unmatched. Too bad none of their chargers ever worked.

JohnQ said:

This is a non-issue for Teslas charging overnight as you can simply dial down the current so the charge ends when you're ready to pick up the car.

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Great idea!

Blink Planning to charge $4.80/hr for parking (15 minutes after a charge is c...

JohnQ said:

This is a non-issue for Teslas charging overnight as you can simply dial down the current so the charge ends when you're ready to pick up the car.

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I was thinking this as well. As long as they don't charge per hour and charge per kWh, this should work.

andrewket said:

I was thinking this as well. As long as they don't charge per hour and charge per kWh, this should work.

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It depends on the state. In some states they still charge by the hour, in other states they have started charging by kWh. Depends on the state utility regulations. When they do charge by the hour it's $2.00/hr at most, so less than half of the not charging fee.

I can understand their change in policy, but their chargers are fraught with reliability problems. I am glad I no longer have to rely on them for energy (first EV was a Leaf).

this only applies assuming you can find a working Blink station in the first place :/

TexasEV said:

It depends on the state. In some states they still charge by the hour, in other states they have started charging by kWh. Depends on the state utility regulations. When they do charge by the hour it's $2.00/hr at most, so less than half of the not charging fee.

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At $.49/kWh, Blink will do you the favor of paying for $5.00/gallon gasoline equivalent.

Blink rhymes with a word indicating a smelly, rotting corpse.:smile:

Blink has blinked. They have released this message admitting that they have gotten lots of feedback and decided to delay the implementation:

A few days ago, we announced that we would be implementing post charging occupancy fees on Blink-owned Level 2 charging stations. As a result, we received a great deal of feedback, both positive and negative. While we understand that not everyone will be supportive of the new policy, we do understand that the new fees may not be practical at all locations. Therefore, in order to review the charger locations more carefully, we have chosen to delay the implementation of the new charger occupancy fees.

In the meantime, please allow us to reiterate and clarify that the new charger occupancy fee will not be applied at all Blink EV charging stations. The policy will only be applied to certain Level 2 charging stations and as noted above, the policy may vary by location. Once implemented, the charger occupancy fee for each charging station will be displayed on the charging station details on the Blink Network map and Blink mobile app, as well as the station's touchscreen.

Lanny

yobigd20 said:

this only applies assuming you can find a working Blink station in the first place :/

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exactly.

I'm assuming I'll be able to charge them $4.80 everytime I pull up to one of their stations with my 3 year old, only to find it not working yet again?

In my experience, the biggest issue is charging stations being blocked by either non plugins or plugin vehicles that aren't even plugged in.

In those cases, this fee would have no effect.

In my experience, Blink is quite expensive. No thanks.