All Your Fleet Electrification & Range Anxiety Problems, Solved

The EV charging news is coming thick and fast these days, regardless of the U-turn (some might say crash-and-burn) direction of federal electrification policy. As for why, just follow the money. In the latest news, a group of investors and lenders has put up more than $30 million to help the US startup SparkCharge expand its mobile fleet electrification and range anxiety-soothing solution to more customers across the US as well as Canada and Mexico, too.

The Range Anxiety Red Herring

Range anxiety is a real thing, but it’s not exclusive to electric vehicles. AAA fields millions of service calls every year, many involving the death of a lead-acid battery in a conventional car. Lead-acid batteries run out of juice all the time and nobody calls it “range anxiety,” but that’s what it is.

Who among us has never experienced range anxiety when we go to retrieve our gasmobile from a parking spot and the lead-acid battery is kaput? If you’ve ever watched the fuel gauge on your gasmobile tick into red with miles to go and not a gas station in sight, you have also experienced range anxiety. For that matter, AAA also answers plenty of out-of-gas calls every year and nobody ever makes a big deal out of that.

“The specter of range anxiety dominated the early years of EV marketing, but that was just a red herring wrapped in a blanket of self-serving, fossil-fueled fear mongering,” I wrote yesterday, and I stand by those words. The simple fact is that driving a car is fraught with anxiety, whether you’re dodging around traffic in town or hurtling down the highway in a pack of 18-wheelers.

EVs simply added another layer of texture to the whole nerve-wracking experience. Those of us who actually enjoy driving can shove the fear of injury, debilitating injury, and/or death out of our minds while on the road, but that doesn’t mean the possibility ceases to exist.

A Two-In-One Solution For Fleet Electrification

For my money, walking, biking and mass transit are much less anxiety-provoking than any drive in a car no matter what it runs on. If you have any thoughts about that, drop a note in the comment thread.

Meanwhile, two parallel movements have come together to spark investor interest in mobile EV charging firms like SparkCharge. One is the fleet electrification movement, driven by the increasingly favorable TCO (total cost of ownership) advantage of EVs over conventional vehicles, along with a much larger variety of EV classes from which to choose.

The other, related factor is the falling cost, enhanced performance, and improved safety of rechargeable battery technology. The idea of loading fully charged batteries onto freight cars and ferrying them around the nation’s rail system to overcome weak spots in regional grids would have been just a pipe dream a few years ago, but the idea has begun to attract investor interest.

Similarly, new EV charging station innovators have developed battery integrated fast-charging stations that can be dropped in place and hooked up to the local grid, without the need for new electrical infrastructure or new trenches. It’s an economical solution for commercial fleet electrification as well as retail locations where individual drivers can get a quick charge regardless of grid conditions.

SparkCharge adds a mobility factor to the battery-integrated charging station landscapes. The charger-on-wheels model combines an easy route to fleet electrification with the ability to meet stranded EV drivers at their point of need, too.

Taking The Anxiety Out Of Fleet Electrification

Speaking of anxiety, back in March of 2023, CleanTechnica’s Jennifer Sensiba took note of SparkCharge’s cost advantage for commercial fleets. Compared to the anxiety-provoking exercise of investing in conventional fixed-in-place charging infrastructure — a process that can take months if not years — the mobile solution offers a practically instant, virtually anxiety-free solution. Instead of paying up front for infrastructure, SparkCharge clients pay-as-they-go for the service they use.

“We’re uniquely focused on taking the anxiety, guesswork, and delays – all still barriers for adoption – out of the commercial EV charging experience,” explained SparkCharge founder and CEO Josh Aviv in a press statement earlier today, announcing the new $30.5 million round of funding.

The total of $30.5 million includes a $15.5 million Series A-1 funding round spearheaded by Monte’s Fam, with Collab Capital, Cleveland Avenue, Non-sibi Ventures, Elemental Impact, and MarcyPen among the participants.

The remaining $15 million consists of a venture loan facility from Horizon Technology Finance Corporation.

“SparkCharge will use the funding to accelerate EV adoption by expanding its mobile, off-grid, and scalable EV charging services throughout the United States, Mexico, and Canada,” the company stated, emphasizing the fleet electrification side of its business while hinting at “additional strategic partnerships across diverse mobility industries.”

When You’ve Lost The Masters…

Oh the irony, it burns so brightly. The sudden shift in federal EV policy has occurred under the watchful eye of a US President who golfs. Many US Presidents have golfed, but the current occupant of the White House outdoes them all in terms of golf.

With that in mind, let’s take a quick look at fleet electrification in the world of golf. The 2025 Masters Tournament, which took placed April 10-13 at the August National Golf Club in Georgia, selected SparkCharge as its official EV Charging Partner, but that’s not the most interesting thing about golf and fleet electrification.

The most interesting thing about golf, from an electrification perspective, is the golf carts. The United States Golf Association, which is the governing body of golf in the US and Mexico, notes that golf carts, where use is permitted, should be electric because they are less noisy.

Last December the market analysis firm Ken Research noted that the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 includes a $2,500 tax credit for electric golf carts, contributing to an acceleration in fleet electrification activity among golf courses in the US.

“This incentive is expected to help drive electric cart sales by at least 15% annually through 2028, easing the financial burden for golf courses, resorts, and individuals opting for electric models,” Ken Research estimates. The firm also takes note of the growing popularity of golf carts in other recreational setting as well as retirement communities, corporate campuses, industrial facilities, and airports among other infrastructure.

Ken Research further notes that the lack of charging infrastructure at golf courses and other locations is slowing the pace of golf cart fleet electrification, though that appears easy enough to solve now that new drop-in and mobile charging solutions are at hand.

Any guesses if electric golf carts are in use at Mar-a-Lago and other Trump-affiliated golf courses…?

Photo (cropped): Mobile EV charging stations can uncork fleet electrification bottlenecks and eliminate EV range anxiety issues, too (courtesy of SparkCharge via email),