You would think with the current status of the economy we wouldn’t hear about funding being poured into what I classify as 5 years from profitability companies – but what do I know…
The two big headlines that stood out the most was Freewire – a battery integrated EV charger – raises $25M in Series A funding to bring their yet to be priced – but likely priced at ~$120K battery integrated fast charger to market. How we got that pricing for Freewire’s boost charging solution – insider info…
And SparkCharge – a portable fast EV charging station that promises to be the roadside “refueling” provider for EVs – raising a $3.3M seed round.
What this brings to attention is the ongoing capital being poured into making EV charging work around our outdated grid to keep up with demand for Electric Vehicles. Freewire is looking to build a system that can be charged via a wall outlet or a single phase connection so fast charging can be made to work anywhere. Which leads to companies like spark charge hoping to help people who couldn’t plug in have backup power wherever and whenever they need it most with their portable chargers.
This makes an interesting conversation to be had – because it seems the problem we are dealing with is the associated costs & overhead required to deploy public charging. Will utilities push for a more modernized grid or will companies like Sparkcharge and Freewire see sustainable growth as we move towards more nano-grid driven real estate assets.