Volta

Volta had one of the more creative SPAC pitches: free EV charging stations funded by digital advertising screens. The company placed chargers at high-traffic retail locations like grocery stores and malls, where brands would pay to advertise on large screens while drivers charged their cars.

The company merged with Tortoise Acquisition Corp II in August 2021. The timing seemed ideal as EV adoption was accelerating and the advertising model offered a differentiated approach to the fragmented charging market.

But the economics never worked at scale. Advertising revenue per station was lower than projected, and the cost of installing and maintaining stations was higher than expected. Volta also had to compete for prime retail locations against well-funded competitors like ChargePoint and Blink. The company churned through CEOs and strategy pivots.

In early 2023, Shell made a lowball acquisition offer that Volta's board initially rejected. But with cash running out and no alternatives, Volta accepted a revised offer from Shell for approximately $169 million — a fraction of its $1.7 billion peak valuation. For SPAC investors, the Shell acquisition returned pennies on the dollar.