Invested In Climate

Electrifying fleets with Spring Free EV & Spring Lane Capital, Ep #63

Aug 1, 2023

41:44

The EV revolution is well underway, and we’re clearly in the midst of a massive transition away from gas-powered cars. Consumers are opting for EVs not only to end their costly dependency on fossil fuels, but also because EVs are often just better cars.

For fleet managers, the calculus is different and more challenging. Switching to EVs requires not just an upfront investment, but also operational changes to deal with charging. This is an important problem to solve given the vast number of intensively-used, fleet-owned vehicles on the road.

We’re joined today by Tenni Theuer, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Spring Free EV, a startup that provides EVs as a service to fleet managers across the US, as well as one of her investors, Rob Day, Partner and Co-Founder at Spring Lane Capital. Don’t be confused by the names of Spring Free EV and Spring Lane – they’re two separate companies, but they are united by their shared excitement for the enormous opportunity to electrify vehicle fleets. We talk about the size of that opportunity, Spring Free’s product and traction, how EVs can transform fleets from depreciating assets into revenue opportunities, and much more. So buckle up – sorry had to go there – and enjoy.

In today’s episode, we cover:

[3:36] The market & need that Spring Free EV is filling
[5:50] The size of the fleet market & why is it Spring Free EV’s focus
[7:47] How many companies have fleets & how many cars are owned by fleets
[8:06] How Rob sees the market as an investor
[11:19] The holdback on CNI fleets
[12:11] Cutting the cost of EV ownership in half for commercial fleet owners
[15:38] EVs & the title as the better car
[18:38] How Spring Free EV stands out
[21:56] The most important milestones that Spring Free EV should be pursuing
[23:31] Cars, customers & capital
[25:44] What will it take to get to the gigaton goal
[26:21] How Spring Free EV’s work will change
[29:28] How & when Rob got involved in climate investing & how he sees the market evolving
[32:50] Spring Free’s unique approach & why it's needed for climate companies today.
[35:52] What else is Rob excited about right now
[38:04] What else needs to happen to accelerate EV adoption