Designed for Scale: How Shasta Supports Fleet and Multifamily EV Charging

All types of fleets continue to switch from internal combustion engine vehicles to electric vehicles (EV) and more residents of multifamily housing continue to seek EV charging as an amenity. This puts increasing pressure on fleet operators and multifamily residential owners to find reliable, scalable, and cost-effective Level 2 (L2) charging options. 

Introducing Blink Shasta 80, the L2 charger specifically designed to meet all three of these criteria. 

As Blink CEO and President Mike Battaglia said about the Shasta 80 when it launched last year: “This is a focused launch designed to meet the specific needs of multifamily and fleet customers who require reliable, scalable charging at an accessible price point.”

Let’s take a closer look at Blink’s newest fleet and multifamily EV charger.

• Single cable design with J1772 or NACS charging connector.

  • Simple, compact design fits in most spaces and contains fewer potential failure points than more complex chargers. 

• Communication via Ethernet, Wi-Fi or cellular 4G LTE

  • Ideal options for most places to connect to the Blink Network for software updates, simple troubleshooting, and myriad host benefits. 

• 7” touchscreen display

  • Intuitive design for drivers already used to manipulating their phone, tablet and vehicle screens via touch. 

• OCPP 1.6 compliant and OCPP 2.0.1 ready

  • Provides your chargers with: 

    • Smart Charging capabilities, 

    • interoperability with other charging brands, 

    • features like remote start/stop, firmware updates, diagnostics, and real-time metering, 

    • up-to-date and encrypted digital communications security, and 

    • ability for charging transactions to occur even if your charger happens to go offline for some reason.

• Multi-temperature control and humidity monitoring features

  • Keeps chargers running longer and safer by proactively monitoring temperature and humidity levels and taking action when excessive amounts are identified.

• Tamper-proof design

  • For physical security to match Shasta’s robust digital security.

• Energy Star Certified 

  • To meet the strictest energy efficiency standards that reduce your energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

Designed for Fleet and Multifamily Applications 

Shasta is a small, uncomplicated charger. This means it takes up little room and you can use any space efficiently, even if it’s in a parking garage or other location with limited space available. The single-cable design contains few failure points so there is less of a chance of your charger breaking. And, on the off chance that it does, it is a simple fix. 

The Shasta 80 in particular is designed to support charging that is both predictable and high-usage, like a fleet depot. EV fleets can experience near-constant usage of their EV chargers. That’s not a problem for the Shasta. Unplug one fleet EV and plug another one in immediately after. The Shasta 80 can handle it. 

And, with its Energy Star certification, you will save money on your electricity bills compared to non-Energy Star certified equipment. 

Built for Reliability, Safety, and Durability

EVs are affected by the climate they run in and the same goes for EV chargers. Both temperature and humidity can affect their performance. That is why the Shasta 80 has multiple environmental sensors embedded throughout various components that monitor both temperature and humidity within and around the charger. These sensors allow the Shasta 80 to adjust its power output based on temperature and restrict power flow if necessary and even shut down in case of a heat-related emergency. 

Paired with temperature sensors, the Shasta 80’s humidity sensors can enact countermeasures to fight against excessive moisture. For example, if it senses that conditions are right for condensation buildup, it can start automatic heating to evaporate moisture, thus protecting sensitive electronics and prolonging the life of the charger. 

Tamper alerts

In a perfect world, you wouldn’t need anti-tampering alerts, but we live in a world where bad actors exist and sometimes they may want to harm EV charging equipment. Thanks to the Shasta 80’s anti-tampering design and tamper alerts, they won’t get the chance to break your EV charging investments. If your fleet depot or multifamily residential unit is in a less desirable area, anti-tampering design and tamper alerts are a must to protect your EV chargers. 

Rugged construction

When dealing with any type of vehicles in high-traffic areas, like a fleet depot, bumps can happen. That is why the Shasta 80 is built to last. If your safety elements – like bollards or concrete pads – don’t stop accidental bumps, the Shasta’s robust construction helps to keep it safe and running even if it gets a knock or two. 

Use Cases Beyond Fleet and Multifamily

Thus far we’ve been talking a lot about fleet and multifamily usage for Shasta 80 chargers, but they are ideal for a multitude of charging locations, such as:

Dealership service bays 

Often, automotive dealerships need dependable Level 2 charging for EV maintenance and staging purposes, but have little room to spare for this. That’s not a problem with the compact Shasta 80. 

State and local municipalities 

When electrifying public fleets or employee parking facilities, municipalities require affordable and reliable Level 2 charging, making them prime locations for Shasta 80 deployment.

Workplaces and commercial properties

Whether for customers or employees, workplaces and commercial properties wanting to install EV charging seek scalable, cost-conscious EV infrastructure. This makes Shasta 80 a prime choice for any employee or customer EV charging. 

Supporting Scalable Deployment and Long-Term Operations

EV charging installation is almost always done in stages, meaning hosts want cost-effective hardware that easily enables phased rollouts and site expansion when the time is right. With its compact design and relatively low cost, Shasta is perfect for companies that want to install EV charging over a longer period as demand increases. 

By using smart software tools, like the Blink Network with its myriad built-in features, which helps reduce operational overhead, hosts can start small with Shasta chargers and grow their EV charging infrastructure alongside evolving charging demand without overbuilding infrastructure.

The Blink Network and Blink Charging software provide you with complete control over your entire stable of EV chargers. If they are public facing, you can set prices, how those prices are calculated (dwell time vs power used or a combo of both), hours for specialty pricing (high demand vs low demand), create groups, set specific prices for specific groups (employees vs customers, for example) and you can generate numerous types of reports about your chargers’ usage and environmental impact.