Blink Charging will lay off nearly 15% of its global workforce as demand for EVs remains soft, the company announced on Tuesday. According to a release, the move—which affects about 100 people—is a “planned operational cost reduction action” as the third-largest EV charging manufacturer in the U.S. works to tackle weakening demand growth.
“We believe the current economic and market challenges facing the EV industry are temporary,” Blink Chief Operating Officer Michael Battaglia said in the release. “We are very optimistic about the future. The operational changes we are announcing today will help us reduce costs and improve our financial performance right away.”
The news comes after the company in early August posted middling second-quarter results and revised financial targets. Revenue, made up largely by Blink’s product sales, was down from the first quarter to $33 million, although that was still a slight improvement year over year. Gross profits were down 13% year over year at $10.7 million, while operating expenses remained mostly flat quarter over quarter, but improved 40% compared to Q2 2023.
“We believe the pressure on EV sales is […] a short-term factor but nonetheless, expect to see some impact to our revenue as we move through the balance of this year,” CEO Brendan Jones said during an Aug. 7 conference call.
At the time, executives also lowered their full-year revenue guidance range from between $165 million and $175 million to somewhere between $145 million and $155 million. They also pushed out their target time frame for positive adjusted EBITDA from December 2024 to some time in 2025. Since then, Jones has announced he will step down in February 2025 as CEO and retire, naming current COO Michael Battaglia as his successor.
"When I joined Blink in early 2020, my plan was to lead the Company for five years,” Jones said in a release. “As that time approaches, I will officially step down as president and CEO as part of my planned retirement. However, I will continue to support Blink as an active board member and advisor through July 2025.”
