SparkCharge raises $30M to help fleets electrify without commitments

Electrifying a fleet of vehicles is the chicken-and-egg problem for the 21st century. Where do you spend money first, on the vehicles or the charging infrastructure? Believe it or not, that question isn’t always thought through. Joshua Aviv, founder and CEO of SparkCharge, has had fleets approach him and say, “Hey, the cars are here. They’re sitting on the lot. We’ve got no way to service them, no way to charge them. Can you guys help us out?” he told TechCrunch. Some companies are a tad more prepared and give Aviv a week’s notice, sometimes longer. But that’s not entirely surprising given Aviv’s pitch: buy the vehicles first, and leave the charging to us. It’s a bit of a pivot from the startup’s first offering, which was mobile EV charging. The company had partnered with AllState to help stranded EV drivers, for example. Now, SparkCharge offers what it calls “charging-as-a-service.” Fleets sign a deal with the startup to buy electricity on a per-kilowatt-hour basis, and SparkCharge ... Read full article.