What Happened To The SparkCharge Electric Car Charger From Shark Tank Season 12?

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On the Season 12 premier of the popular reality show "Shark Tank," a company known as SparkCharge introduced its product: the "Roadie." The Roadie is a portable modular battery and charger that tops off electric vehicles in the wild, without needing a conventional public EV charging station connected to an electrical grid. It's easy to see the appeal of such products because while some EVs have excellent range, others aren't so great.

Think of it as a modern version of the ubiquitous red five-gallon gasoline container, but for EVs. Additional modular batteries can easily be added to the Roadie to increase its charging power. Although it wasn't specifically mentioned on the show, SparkCharge co-founder Josh Aviv has said that he thought of the idea while he was still a college student at Syracuse University. 

Rather than sell the portable charging devices, the company was primarily focused on leasing them to roadside assistance providers, such as AAA, with a lower-priced consumer-grade version potentially on the horizon. 

Initially, SparkCharge's founders Josh Aviv and Chris Ellis asked for $1 million in exchange for a 6% ownership interest, imputing a value of $16.7 million for the company. After a precarious start where clothing mogul Daymond John declined to invest at the very beginning of the pitch, the entrepreneurs managed to snag two of the shark investors: Lori Greiner and Mark Cuban. 

Following some negotiation, a deal was reached for a total of $1 million invested between the two sharks for 10% equity in the company, an additional 4% advisory shares, and one seat on the company's board of directors.

Like with many products seen on Shark Tank, there was a sharp increase in interest and activity immediately following the episode airing. In 2021, SparkCharge inked partnerships with roadside service providers Allstate Roadside and Urgently. 

In that same year, the company also rolled out a smartphone app called BoostEV that allows EV owners to coordinate a portable charge delivered directly to their vehicle in major metropolitan areas such as Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and others. Similar to food delivery, BoostEV's Charging as a Service (CaaS) brings charging to EV owners anywhere on demand.

While the initial focus for the Roadie seemed to lean toward alleviating electric vehicle range anxiety by providing emergency charging services, the role has since expanded to one of convenience rather than just strictly for emergency use. Fittingly, an additional partner was found in Spiffy, a company which provides mobile car washing, detailing, and maintenance including tire changes (part of the true costs of owning an EV), so getting your EV charged concurrent with Spiffy's other services is a natural synergy.

"When SparkCharge appeared on Shark Tank, I knew they were on the cusp of something game-changing," SparkCharge investor and entrepreneur Mark Cuban proclaimed. "The EV market is growing so fast and having a network completely free from the legacy issues of old infrastructure is huge. As an electric vehicle owner myself, getting my car charged while I do other things is priceless."

So how well is SparkCharge doing today? On the strength of several rounds of post-"Shark Tank" fundraising, the company's on-demand charging delivery service expanded to more than 20 new geographical markets in 2023 alone. SparkCharge bosses also leveraged the "Shark Tank" exposure to close partnerships with Kia Motors, Hertz, and ride-share outfit Uber, as well as up-and-coming roadside assistance outfit Urgently.

The company's web page boasts that SparkCharge is the "World's Largest Electric Vehicle Fleet Charging Network," claiming to have delivered 3,234,320 kWh to EV users. Per the company's splash page, Avis, ZipCar, Amazon, and the Boston Water and Sewer Commission are now included under its growing network of partners. Apart from offering portable charging to consumers, SparkCharge also launched a charging service geared toward fleet operators and commercial vehicles called Out of Charge (OOC), which delivers 25-50 miles of range to those hoping to avoid towing fees for battery-dead EV fleet vehicles.

In August 2023, SparkCharge further grew its partnership network via a deal with Courial, a valet service that delivers on-demand charging to EV drivers in California. Not long after that deal closed, SparkCharge was valued at $110 million. The company has continued to grow since, and in August 2024 forged a potentially game-changing partnership with Pioneer Power Solutions, integrating its e-Boost system into SparkCharge's "Charging as a Service" model. Such partnerships have helped SparkCharge become a national presence on the EV charging scene. And with the sale of EVs holding strong, SparkCharge should only continue to grow. 

"Shark Tank" episodes are currently available to rent or purchase on Amazon Prime.