Mark Cuban-Backed Startup Delivers Charging To EVs: Just Like Ordering From 'Uber Eats or GrubHub'

Electric vehicle, or EV, demand continues to surge both nationally and globally, with 2023 set to be another record year in terms of sales.

Americans purchased 800,000 EVs in 2022 from manufacturers like Tesla Inc. TSLA, Rivian Automotive Inc. RIVN and Nio Inc. NIO. More than 10 million of the plug-in vehicles were sold globally that year, data shows.

In the U.S., the number of EVs sold in January of this year increased 74% from the same month the year prior, according to InsideEVs, indicating the move toward electrification is accelerating.

For some vehicle owners, making the switch from gas to electric can be worring because charging infrastructure isn’t evenly spread throughout the country and some homeowners aren’t able to install charging ports in their homes.

SparkCharge co-founder and CEO Josh Aviv hopes to relieve the stress of battery charging with his startup, which produces portable battery chargers that can be delivered by a technician to the location of the EV-in-need –as long as it’s a physical address and not the side of a road.

The Startup: Aviv wants to make charging easy and convenient for EV owners and solve issues around driving range. “The same way that you would order food from Uber Eats or GrubHub is the same way that you can now have energy brought to your vehicle,” he told CNBC’s Make It.

“You can select the time, the place, choose your vehicle, how much range you want, and with the push of a button it gets brought to you.”

The Massachusetts-based business, which was founded in 2017, offers both subscription-based and one-time services in 121 U.S. cities and has formed partnerships with Kia Motors, Hertz and Uber.

The Investors: In 2020, Aviv took his idea to “Shark Tank,” where Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner agreed to $1 million in SparkCharge in exchange for a 10% equity stake. Tale Venture Partners and rapper Pusha-T have also shown support for the company and in total Aviv has raised about $30 million to grow the business.

The investors know charging infrastructure is critical for widespread EV adoption and SparkCharge helps alleviate that issue. “‘If you want to solve a huge problem for the world, solve the problem of infrastructure for electric vehicles,’” Aviv recalled hearing his professor of environmental economics say when he attended Syracuse University in 2014.

And Aviv plans to do just that by continuing to expand to more cities. He also expects to be "up and running" in a city in under 14 days.

“We can blanket that entire city with energy,” Aviv added.

Next: Volkswagen Reveals Elon Musk's Unrealized Dream Car With Latest $25,000 Entry-Level Electric Vehicle

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