Upshift · LOI from an automaker for $5M in...

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Learn more at <a href="https://www.upshiftcars.com/invest/" rel="nofollow">https://www.upshiftcars.com/invest/</a>Upshift just got a Letter of Intent from a VP at a major international automaker with a growing EV lineup. They are interested in providing debt financing to Upshift with support from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District which provides an 80% loan guarantee on up to $5M for clean air initiatives in California.This is huge. Why?This unlocks $5,000,000 in new debt financing for EVs- enough to get 100 EVs to 5x our fleet.What's in this for the carmaker?EVs are rapidly growing in popularity, especially in San Francisco. But there are still a lot of barriers to entry for people to get into EVs - especially people renting apartments in cities. Upshift reduces cost, charging and range issues for urban drivers and provides real world "test drives" to give them more confidence and experience with EVs - their EVs - which they are more likely to eventually buy someday.The new Inflation Reduction Act provides $7,500 in tax credits for EVs. The catch? This only applies to 1. cars made in America (not this automaker) and 2. you need to have tax equity to get a tax credit (not Upshift). The loophole - if a car is leased, the finance company can take the tax credit - even if the car is not made in America. Then they can pass on all or some of that incentive to the lessee. That's $750,000 - $1,125,000 - regardless of any other value - which neither of us otherwise could capture.This automaker’s fleet financing division (separate contact) has also offered us discounted fleet pricing on one of their EVs (basically wholesale, about $1k below MSRP) for up to 2,000 cars, built to order in Q2. This would get us a ton of identical EVs, fast - and a scalable path to more as we grow.Since these cars are leased, cars are not on Upshift's books. No need to create a separate LLC to manage, no complicated tax credits to navigate, and Upshift doesn't own any cars. It's asset light.The BAAQMD is now moving forward to approve this automaker’s captive financial institution as a lender for their program. EzraLearn more at: <a href="https://www.upshiftcars.com/invest/" rel="nofollow">https://www.upshiftcars.com/invest/</a>

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Mar 10

2023

LOI from an automaker for $5M in debt financing

Learn more at https://www.upshiftcars.com/invest/

Upshift just got a Letter of Intent from a VP at a major international automaker with a growing EV lineup. They are interested in providing debt financing to Upshift with support from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District which provides an 80% loan guarantee on up to $5M for clean air initiatives in California.

This is huge. Why?

This unlocks $5,000,000 in new debt financing for EVs- enough to get 100 EVs to 5x our fleet.

What's in this for the carmaker?

EVs are rapidly growing in popularity, especially in San Francisco. But there are still a lot of barriers to entry for people to get into EVs - especially people renting apartments in cities. Upshift reduces cost, charging and range issues for urban drivers and provides real world "test drives" to give them more confidence and experience with EVs - their EVs - which they are more likely to eventually buy someday.

The new Inflation Reduction Act provides $7,500 in tax credits for EVs. The catch? This only applies to 1. cars made in America (not this automaker) and 2. you need to have tax equity to get a tax credit (not Upshift). The loophole - if a car is leased, the finance company can take the tax credit - even if the car is not made in America. Then they can pass on all or some of that incentive to the lessee. That's $750,000 - $1,125,000 - regardless of any other value - which neither of us otherwise could capture.

This automaker’s fleet financing division (separate contact) has also offered us discounted fleet pricing on one of their EVs (basically wholesale, about $1k below MSRP) for up to 2,000 cars, built to order in Q2. This would get us a ton of identical EVs, fast - and a scalable path to more as we grow.

Since these cars are leased, cars are not on Upshift's books. No need to create a separate LLC to manage, no complicated tax credits to navigate, and Upshift doesn't own any cars. It's asset light.

The BAAQMD is now moving forward to approve this automaker’s captive financial institution as a lender for their program.

Ezra

Learn more at: https://www.upshiftcars.com/invest/

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3 years ago

Hi Mr. Goldman,
Thanks for the update. Question: Will charging stations be an issue for the cars you will be leasing? I understand cars are position statistically. Thanks again for the wonderful update.

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@darryl-robinson-1 We’ve been trying to exclusively use public quickchargers but to scale EVs we’ll need hubs with parking + charging. Likely each parking space can support multiple cars and (with delivery) these locations can be in less desirable areas and aggregated to reduce costs.