Accelerating the deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) is one of the most powerful ways to solve the climate crisis. EVs are expensive to purchase, but cheaper to operate than gas and diesel cars and trucks. The simple solution is to provide cash up front in exchange for payments as the vehicle is used, an idea called a Mileage Purchase Agreement. 

The Spring Free EV Contest is a project to increase the pace of EV sales using a Mileage Purchase Agreement (MPA).

Contestants will compete to validate or invalidate the product-market fit for the MPA idea. The most likely way we anticipate they will do so is by signing up consumers or fleets to a version of the program. The best evidence of product-market fit will win $10,000. 

If we achieve product-market fit, Spring Ventures will  provide up to $300,000 of debt capital to test the idea. Like other fintech innovations, if we can prove the economics for a few hundred vehicles, we can raise money for a few thousand, then tens of thousands, and ultimately millions of vehicles.

The contest is sponsored by Spring Ventures, the investment platform for Sunil Paul, the pioneering Silicon Valley entrepreneur who invented ridesharing, p2p carsharing, and spam control.