Blink & OMNIA Partners Make EV Charging Purchasing Easy for Organizations

In our ongoing effort to make electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure accessible, Blink has teamed up with OMNIA Partners to simplify procurement for schools, state governments, local governments, businesses, and fleets. 

Who is OMNIA? 

For over 20 years, OMNIA has enhanced procurement processes for organizations. In 2017, a series of acquisitions formed the OMNIA Partners brand, broadening its reach across various industries. 

OMNIA Partners now supports multiple sectors, including: 

• K-12 Education, 

• Higher Education, 

• Government, 

• Nonprofit, 

• Enterprise, 

• Corporate, 

• Private Equity, and 

• Real Estate. 

OMNIA’s benefits for schools and governments 

Blink’s contract with OMNIA offers numerous advantages for schools, government entities, and businesses aiming to electrify their fleets and provide charging stations for guests and employees. As a group purchasing organization, OMNIA simplifies the procurement process for busy purchasers and procurement managers. Here are some of the benefits. 

Standardization & consistency

OMNIA ensures a standardized and consistent approach to EV charging infrastructure procurement, helping your team select top-quality products that offer the best value, service consistency, and savings. 

Faster purchasing process

OMNIA’s contracting experts streamline the contracting process, reducing the time spent on managing requests for proposals (RFPs) and allowing you to focus on other responsibilities. OMNIA claims this can save procurement managers up to 500 hours on sourcing. 

Purchasing optimization

OMNIA’s subject matter experts identify the best solutions for your needs, delivering cost savings and streamlined operations for an efficient procurement process.

Selecting Your Charging Stations 

Now that you can streamline group purchases of Blink products and services through OMNIA Partners, what should you buy? It depends on your specific needs, but here are some considerations: 

Fleets

For fleets, we recommend having at least one Direct Current Fast Charger (DCFC) like the Blink 60kW – 360kW DC Fast Charger for quick vehicle charging. DCFCs can charge a vehicle’s battery in under an hour.  

Most fleets will also need several Level 2 (L2) chargers, such as the Blink Series 7 Level 2 EV Charging Station, which can charge a battery in four to eight hours, ideal for overnight charging or extended parking periods.

Fleet operators also get access to Blink Fleet Management, a specialized section of the Blink Network dashboard for fleet managers. 

Employees and guests

For employees and guests, L2 chargers are recommended, as they will likely be parked for extended periods. Offering EV charging as an amenity can enhance employee retention, support university research, and help your organization achieve its Scope 3 emissions reduction goals. Compared to DC fast chargers, L2 chargers can also be installed more quickly, allowing your employees to benefit from this amenity sooner.  

Station Management with the Blink Network 

Schools, governments, and businesses can manage their Level 2 and DC fast charging stations through Blink’s cloud-based software, offering access controls, flexible pricing, real-time analytics, and fleet management. 

Access controls

You can restrict charging station access to employees or fleets by marking your Series 7 or Series 8 charging stations as “private,” allowing only approved drivers to use them. 

Flexible pricing

If you charge for EV infrastructure use, the Blink Network lets you set pricing by kWh or time, or a combination of both (hybrid pricing). Different prices can be set for public versus private users and adjusted based on the time of day to reflect demand pricing.  

Real-time station status and analytics

With the Blink Network, your facilities team can easily view station availability, charge history, pricing, waitlists, and location details. You can download reports on location usage, charging sessions, energy consumption, revenue, station utilization, CO2 reduction, and more. 

Fleet management

With Blink Fleet Management, fleet managers can oversee your fleet and workplace or public charging stations through the same host portal in the Fleet Management tab. You can create fleet groups, each with its own assigned delegate, zone, and vehicle data. Besides the analytics available to all Blink hosts, fleet managers can also download data on your fleet’s CO2 offset, fleet station usage, fleet alerts, and fleet authorizations. 

Conclusion

Blink Charging’s OMNIA Partners contract allows educational facilities, businesses, and state and local government agencies to easily purchase EV charging equipment while saving time and money. We are proud to support organizations in transitioning their fleets to EVs and providing EV charging to their guests and employees. To speak with an EV charging expert, please contact Blink Charging today.