Super Powers Mobility
Develops high-voltage electric powertrains and conversion kits for utility terrain vehicles (UTVs).
Website: https://spm.fun
Cover Block
Open sources
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | Super Powers Mobility |
| Tagline | Develops high-voltage electric powertrains and conversion kits for utility terrain vehicles (UTVs). |
| Headquarters | Pittsburgh, US [Crunchbase] |
| Founded | 2023 [Crunchbase] |
| Stage | Pre-Seed [Crunchbase] |
| Business model | Hardware + Software |
| Industry | Defense / Govtech |
| Technology | Hardware |
| Geography | North America |
| Growth profile | Venture Scale |
| Founding team | Solo Founder |
| Funding label | Seed |
| Total disclosed | Approximately $1.64 million [PitchBook] |
Links
Open sources
- Website: https://superpowershq.com
- Product Page: https://spm.fun/products/evk
- Product Pre-Order Page: https://spm.fun/products/spm-evk-pre-order
- Careers: https://superpowershq.com/careers/
What an Investor Needs First
PUBLIC Super Powers Mobility is building high-voltage electric powertrains and retrofit kits for utility terrain vehicles, and it merits attention now because it has moved from stealth and early ecosystem support into a disclosed $1.3 million pre-seed round and a reported defense-facing field demonstration cycle [Technical.ly, August 2025] [Technical.ly, January 2026] [Defence Blog, July 2026]. Founded in 2023 in the Pittsburgh area by Jonathan Powers, the company is pursuing a practical wedge: electrify existing UTV platforms with an Energized Vehicle Kit rather than relying only on clean-sheet vehicle development, a positioning that could shorten adoption cycles if installation and reliability claims hold up in the field [Technical.ly, August 2025] [Defence Blog, July 2026] [ATV.com].
The public record points to a two-track product strategy, retrofit kits for existing side-by-sides and longer-term development of fully electric UTVs, with current compatibility claims most clearly tied to the Polaris Rzr family on the company site [Pittsburgh Business Times, January 2026] [spm.fun/products/evk, Retrieved 2026]. That matters because retrofit economics and procurement pathways can differ materially from original-vehicle manufacturing, especially across civilian and defense buyers, and the nearest proof point so far is demonstration activity rather than named commercial customers or procurement awards [Defence Blog, July 2026] [Technical.ly, August 2025].
On team quality, Powers appears to bring directly relevant vehicle engineering experience: Uma Ventures described him as a former Tesla engineer who contributed to the Cybertruck program, and other public founder materials tie him to prior ATV and UTV design work at Honda [Uma Ventures, July 2025] [thoughtliters.beehiiv.com]. LinkedIn also identifies Daniel Atanasovski as Systems Engineering Director, which suggests the company is beginning to add functional depth beyond a solo-founder origin [LinkedIn, Retrieved 2026].
Funding evidence is directionally encouraging but still a little uneven across databases. Named publisher coverage supports $235,000 in early funding plus a $20,000 grant by August 2025 and a $1.3 million pre-seed round led by Boost VC in January 2026, while PitchBook lists total disclosed funding at $1.64 million and Tracxn records an additional undisclosed April 2025 financing event associated with Forerunner Ventures [Technical.ly, August 2025] [Technical.ly, January 2026] [PitchBook] [Tracxn]. The business model is best understood today as hardware plus software around off-road electrification, with revenue likely to depend first on kit sales and integration rather than on high-volume vehicle production [Technical.ly, August 2025].
Over the next 12 to 18 months, the key watch items are straightforward: whether SPM converts demonstrations into referenceable defense or commercial deployments, whether its retrofit compatibility claims extend beyond a narrow set of platforms, and whether the company can show repeatable manufacturing and installation performance at small scale [Defence Blog, July 2026] [spm.fun/products/evk, Retrieved 2026]. If those milestones land, the company could occupy a credible niche at the intersection of off-road electrification and dual-use mobility; if they do not, the story remains an interesting prototype with early investor support rather than a validated go-to-market motion.
Partially corroborated -- Relies on named publisher coverage from Technical.ly, Pittsburgh Business Times, Defence Blog, and Uma Ventures, with some product and funding details supplemented by company materials and private-company databases [Technical.ly, August 2025] [Pittsburgh Business Times, January 2026] [Defence Blog, July 2026] [Uma Ventures, July 2025] [PitchBook] [Tracxn].
Taxonomy Snapshot
| Axis | Value |
|---|---|
| Stage | Pre-Seed |
| Business Model | Hardware + Software |
| Industry / Vertical | Defense / Govtech |
| Technology Type | Hardware |
| Geography | North America |
| Growth Profile | Venture Scale |
| Founding Team | Solo Founder |
| Funding | Seed (total disclosed ~$1,640,000) |
Inside the Company
PUBLIC
Super Powers Mobility presents as an early Pittsburgh electric-mobility startup built around off-road vehicle electrification, a niche that is narrower than the general EV market and easier to parse on first principles. Public company profiles place the business in Pittsburgh and date its founding to 2023, with Jonathan Powers listed as founder [Crunchbase]. The company’s public-facing materials describe a focus on high-voltage electric powertrains and conversion kits for utility terrain vehicles, which gives the company a clearer operating frame than many pre-launch mobility startups [Crunchbase].
The public record is still thin, but the timeline that can be established is straightforward. Crunchbase records the company as founded in 2023 and headquartered in Pittsburgh [Crunchbase]. By 2026, the company website was publicly marketing an EVK product page that described an electric conversion kit for UTVs and named compatibility with the Polaris Rzr family, indicating that the company had moved from concept positioning to product-specific public messaging by that point [spm.fun/products/evk, Retrieved 2026].
Claim stands unchecked -- This section relies primarily on Crunchbase and company website materials, with no corroborating state filing cited in the provided source set.
Under the Hood
MIXED
The product story is still narrow, which is usually a good sign this early. Super Powers Mobility is publicly described as building high-voltage electric powertrains and conversion kits for utility terrain vehicles, with the most concrete product surface being its EVK, or Energized Vehicle Kit [Technical.ly, August 2025] [Defence Blog, July 2026]. Defence Blog described the EVK as a battery and power system designed to bolt onto existing light tactical all-terrain vehicles, while ATV.com separately described retrofit kits for side-by-sides with scalable power options that work with most UTVs [Defence Blog, July 2026] [ATV.com].
The sharper technical claim is compatibility rather than autonomy, software, or fleet management. Company-controlled product pages say the EVK replaces the internal combustion engine with an electric motor and battery system, is currently compatible with the Polaris Rzr family, and is intended as a drop-in kit for UTVs using a CVT transmission [spm.fun/products/evk, Retrieved 2026] [spm.fun/products/spm-evk-pre-order, Retrieved 2026]. Those are useful signals on product form factor, but they remain company claims rather than independently validated field-performance data.
The most meaningful external validation so far is that the company reportedly demonstrated the EVK to special-operations forces at two events in Nevada and Utah, which indicates the platform has progressed beyond slideware and bench-top concept work [Defence Blog, July 2026]. Still, the public record does not establish procurement, named production customers, or operating metrics such as range, payload impact, charging time, durability, or unit economics, so the current technical case rests on fit-for-purpose design and early demo activity rather than proven deployment scale [Technical.ly, August 2025] [Pittsburgh Business Times, January 2026].
Partially corroborated -- Product existence and defense demonstrations are supported by named publisher coverage, but key performance and compatibility details rely in part on company-controlled product pages.
Market Research
PUBLIC
This market matters now because Super Powers Mobility is aiming at the overlap of off road utility vehicles, electrified powertrains, and defense mobility, and the public record shows buyer interest emerging before the category has settled into a mature incumbent structure [Technical.ly, August 2025] [Defence Blog, July 2026].
The immediate constraint is that the available sources do not provide a clean third party TAM, SAM, and SOM model for electric UTV conversion kits specifically. What the public evidence does support is a narrower read: the company is pursuing a retrofit wedge for gasoline powered UTVs rather than relying only on clean sheet vehicle replacement, and it is pairing that with a longer term push into complete electric UTVs [Technical.ly, August 2025] [Pittsburgh Business Times, January 2026]. That matters because retrofit markets often form where installed fleets are large, replacement cycles are long, and buyers care about uptime and fit with existing vehicle platforms, though the size of that installed base is not quantified in the sources reviewed.
The demand signals in the record are concrete, if still early. Technical.ly reported at launch that the company was targeting recreational users, farmers, land management companies, off grid resorts, and potential military buyers, which implies a market that spans consumer, commercial, and government budgets rather than a single procurement path [Technical.ly, August 2025]. Defence Blog later reported demonstrations of the company's Energized Vehicle Kit to special operations forces in Nevada and Utah, a useful marker that the defense angle is not just conceptual, even if it does not establish a program of record or purchase order [Defence Blog, July 2026].
The adjacent markets are at least as important as the core one. Public descriptions position the kit as a battery and power system that can bolt onto existing light tactical all terrain vehicles, while company and investor materials describe broader ambitions in off road powertrains and dual use applications [Defence Blog, July 2026] [Uma Ventures, July 2025]. In practice, that places the company near several substitutes: buying a new electric off road vehicle outright, continuing with internal combustion fleets, or sourcing electrification components from specialty powertrain suppliers instead of a full conversion kit. The public sources do not yet show which of those budget lines is easiest for customers to approve.
The macro and regulatory case is plausible but only lightly evidenced in the available reporting. Civilian operators in agriculture, land management, and resorts can benefit from lower noise and a different maintenance profile if conversion kits perform as advertised, while military users may value low acoustic and thermal signatures in certain mission sets, which helps explain the special operations demos cited by Defence Blog [Technical.ly, August 2025] [Defence Blog, July 2026]. Still, there is no public evidence here of a mandate, subsidy framework, or procurement standard that would force adoption on a defined timeline, so the market case rests more on mission fit and total cost logic than on regulation.
| Market sizing or demand claim | Reading from public sources | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Electric UTV conversion kit TAM | No named third party market size identified in reviewed sources | [Technical.ly, August 2025] |
| Initial operating ambition | Company reportedly contemplated selling approximately 500 to 1,000 vehicles per year at high margins and relatively low production volume | [Perplexity Sonar Pro Brief] |
| Early buyer segments | Recreational users, farmers, land management companies, off grid resorts, and the U.S. military were identified as target markets | [Technical.ly, August 2025] |
| Defense demand signal | EVK reportedly demonstrated to special operations forces in Nevada and Utah | [Defence Blog, July 2026] |
The table makes the central point plainly: public evidence supports segment identification and an early defense validation signal, but not a third party quantified market model. For investors, that means the market question is less about headline TAM today and more about whether retrofit demand converts into repeatable procurement across one or two beachhead segments.
Partially corroborated -- Section relies on named publisher reporting from Technical.ly, Pittsburgh Business Times, Defence Blog, and Uma Ventures, but lacks independent third party market sizing for electric UTV conversion kits.
Competition and Substitutes
Market structure
MIXED Super Powers Mobility is not competing in a single lane so much as at the junction of three already-populated ones: off-road vehicle OEMs, retrofit electrification, and light tactical mobility for defense buyers [Technical.ly, August 2025] [Defence Blog, July 2026].
In civilian off-road use, the practical alternatives are still incumbent gasoline UTV platforms from established manufacturers such as Polaris, which SPM references indirectly through current EVK compatibility with the Polaris RZR family according to the company product page [spm.fun/products/evk, Retrieved 2026]. In defense or quasi-defense use, the alternative is not necessarily another electric kit vendor, it is the status quo of existing light tactical all-terrain vehicles, plus the procurement preference for proven platforms over retrofit concepts [Defence Blog, July 2026]. The adjacent substitute is a buyer simply deferring electrification and continuing to operate internal-combustion fleets until battery performance, field service, and total cost are clearer.
That matters because SPM's wedge is narrower, and potentially more capital-efficient, than launching as a full vehicle OEM. Public reporting points to a bolt-on Energized Vehicle Kit for existing vehicles and a broader powertrain-development posture, which places the company closer to an enabling supplier than a brand-led vehicle manufacturer [Defence Blog, July 2026] [Technical.ly, August 2025]. If that positioning holds, the company is not asking every buyer to replace an entire fleet at once. It is asking them to upgrade a familiar chassis, which lowers behavior change but does not remove integration and reliability risk.
Edge and durability
MIXED The edge visible in public evidence today is less about market access and more about founder-market fit, early ecosystem support, and a product concept that can piggyback on an installed base [Uma Ventures, July 2025] [Technical.ly, August 2025].
Jonathan Powers is described by Uma Ventures as a former Tesla engineer who contributed to the Cybertruck program, and separate founder coverage says he also worked on ATVs and UTVs at Honda [Uma Ventures, July 2025] [thoughtliters.beehiiv.com]. That combination is relevant because the technical problem here sits between automotive electrification and off-road vehicle packaging, not in software alone. SPM also appears to have moved through Pittsburgh hardware and robotics programs including AlphaLab Gear, Innovation Forge, and the Robotics Factory Scale Program, which can matter at this stage because prototyping partners, test access, and manufacturing-adjacent mentorship are often more valuable than broad brand awareness [Technical.ly, August 2025].
The problem is that this edge looks perishable unless it turns into repeatable distribution or qualification wins. Founder background can accelerate product definition, but it does not by itself create dealer channels, defense program-of-record access, or a service network. The current public record does not show named commercial customers, and the July 2026 defense demonstrations indicate field interest rather than procurement lock-in [Defence Blog, July 2026]. In practical terms, SPM's present advantage is technical credibility and wedge selection, while the more durable forms of advantage, such as channel control, fleet data, and certified reliability at scale, remain to be established.
Exposure points
MIXED The company's largest competitive exposure is to incumbency itself, especially if buyers decide that a proven gasoline platform from an established OEM is less risky than retrofitting to electric before doctrine, maintenance, and resale markets catch up.
Polaris is the most concrete named reference point in the available material because SPM says the EVK is compatible with the Polaris RZR family on its product page [spm.fun/products/evk, Retrieved 2026]. That compatibility is strategically useful, but it also underscores dependence on another company's installed base and product architecture. If an incumbent OEM broadens its own electric or hybrid roadmap, tightens dealer relationships, or introduces factory-backed electrified off-road options, SPM could be forced to compete against a platform owner with stronger service coverage and customer trust. The same issue appears in defense, where the incumbent advantage is even sharper: military buyers often privilege tested, supportable systems over technically interesting demonstrations, and the Defence Blog report does not establish any contract, program award, or exclusive pathway [Defence Blog, July 2026].
A second exposure is category breadth. Public reporting suggests SPM is pursuing both retrofit kits and complete electric UTVs, which can be strategically coherent but stretches a small company's engineering and go-to-market bandwidth [Technical.ly, August 2025] [Pittsburgh Business Times, January 2026]. If management has to choose, the retrofit business likely faces substitute pressure from doing nothing, while the full-vehicle path faces the heavier capital and certification burden that comes with being an OEM. Either way, a larger player with more manufacturing depth could choose the more attractive segment once demand is proven.
Most plausible 18-month scenario
MIXED The most plausible near-term outcome is not broad category leadership, but a narrower validation cycle in which SPM either becomes a credible retrofit specialist for selected use cases or remains an interesting prototype company with uneven commercial proof.
The most likely winner if field validation continues is Super Powers Mobility itself, but only in the limited sense that it could own an early niche around electrification kits for existing off-road platforms where stealth, torque delivery, or reduced fuel logistics matter enough to justify a retrofit [Defence Blog, July 2026]. That scenario depends on converting demonstrations into paid pilots or procurement-adjacent development work, and on proving that installation and maintenance are simpler than a buyer expects. The most likely loser if that conversion does not happen is not a named startup rival in the evidence set. It is the retrofit category, because buyers can default back to incumbent internal-combustion platforms without needing to make an active competitive switch.
Put differently, the competitive question over the next 18 months is whether SPM can move the comparison from experimental EV conversion versus doing nothing, to qualified powertrain solution versus incumbent vehicle replacement cycles. Public evidence suggests the company has enough technical and investor support to earn that test [Technical.ly, January 2026] [Uma Ventures, July 2025]. It does not yet show that SPM controls the channels or customer references that would make the edge durable.
Partially corroborated -- This section relies on named-publisher reporting from Technical.ly, Pittsburgh Business Times, Defence Blog, and Uma Ventures, with product-compatibility detail from the company website.
Opportunity
PUBLIC
The prize here is not selling a niche enthusiast vehicle, it is becoming a standard electrification layer for off-road and light tactical platforms that already exist in the field, a much larger and potentially more capital-efficient position if the company can prove retrofit performance and reliability [Technical.ly, August 2025] [Defence Blog, July 2026].
The headline opportunity is straightforward: Super Powers Mobility could become a powertrain supplier and retrofit platform for utility terrain vehicles used across recreation, agriculture, industrial sites, and selected defense use cases, rather than remaining a single-vehicle OEM [Technical.ly, August 2025] [Pittsburgh Business Times, January 2026]. That outcome is still early, but it is not purely aspirational. Public reporting shows the company is building conversion kits alongside complete electric UTVs, has raised outside capital from defense- and hardware-oriented investors, and has already taken its Energized Vehicle Kit into demonstrations with special-operations forces in Nevada and Utah [Technical.ly, January 2026] [Uma Ventures, July 2025] [Defence Blog, July 2026]. In practical terms, the appeal is the installed base: if a buyer can electrify an existing platform instead of replacing the entire vehicle, the budget, procurement, and maintenance discussion can look materially different from a clean-sheet vehicle purchase [ATV.com] [Defence Blog, July 2026].
The paths to scale are still conditional, but a few stand out as internally coherent from the public record.
| Scenario | What happens | Catalyst | Why it's plausible |
|---|---|---|---|
| Defense retrofit wedge | The EVK becomes a field-tested upgrade path for selected light tactical or special-operations vehicle fleets, giving the company a high-credibility beachhead | A successful follow-on evaluation after the Nevada and Utah demonstrations, or a pilot tied to tactical mobility and silent-power use cases [Defence Blog, July 2026] | The company has already demonstrated the EVK to special-operations forces, and the product is described as a bolt-on battery and power system for existing light tactical all-terrain vehicles [Defence Blog, July 2026] |
| Civilian installed-base conversion platform | The company turns retrofit kits into the default electrification option for compatible side-by-sides, starting with Polaris Rzr-family compatibility and expanding outward | Broad compatibility proof, dealer or installer relationships, and a repeatable conversion package for common UTV models [spm.fun/products/evk, Retrieved 2026] [ATV.com] | Public product material says the EVK is currently compatible with the Polaris Rzr family and designed as a drop-in kit, while third-party coverage describes scalable retrofit options for side-by-sides [spm.fun/products/evk, Retrieved 2026] [ATV.com] |
| Tier 1 off-road powertrain supplier | Instead of capturing only end-product margin, the company supplies electric powertrain systems into third-party vehicles or specialty programs across civilian and defense markets | A partner program or supply agreement with a specialty manufacturer or integrator [Technical.ly, August 2025] [Uma Ventures, July 2025] | Public descriptions consistently frame the company around high-voltage off-road powertrains, not only finished vehicles, and investor messaging has emphasized dual-use applications [Technical.ly, August 2025] [Uma Ventures, July 2025] |
What compounding looks like is less about a classic consumer network effect and more about platform learning. Each successful conversion should improve fitment knowledge, software calibration, installation workflows, and reliability data across adjacent vehicle families, which can reduce deployment friction on the next program if the underlying architecture is genuinely modular [Technical.ly, August 2025] [spm.fun/products/evk, Retrieved 2026]. The earliest signs are present but modest: the company has progressed from stealth launch and accelerator support to a working proof-of-concept narrative, outside financing, and defense-facing demonstrations [Technical.ly, August 2025] [Technical.ly, January 2026] [Defence Blog, July 2026]. If that sequence continues, the moat would come from validated integrations and field performance in hard environments, not from brand alone.
The size of the win is therefore best framed against adjacent transportation outcomes rather than a firm forecast. Public sources provided here do not include a named market-size report or a directly comparable public peer with a cited market capitalization, so the cleaner statement is conditional: if Super Powers Mobility proves it can sell retrofit powertrains into both civilian fleets and defense programs, it could occupy a supplier position that is structurally larger than a small-volume specialty vehicle brand because it can monetize multiple vehicle platforms and customer segments from the same core powertrain stack [Technical.ly, August 2025] [Pittsburgh Business Times, January 2026] [Uma Ventures, July 2025]. A more concrete valuation framework would require disclosed unit economics, program volumes, or a cited sector comparable, none of which appears in the public materials supplied for this section.
Partially corroborated -- Based primarily on Technical.ly, Defence Blog, Uma Ventures, ATV.com, and company product pages; several product-scope claims rely partly on company materials and remain only partially corroborated.
Sources
Open sources
[Crunchbase] Super Powers Mobility | Crunchbase Company Profile & Funding | https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/super-powers-mobility
[PitchBook] Super Powers Mobility 2026 Company Profile: Valuation, Funding & Investors | PitchBook | https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/756057-52
[Technical.ly, August 2025] Super Powers Mobility exits stealth with new tech to build off-roading EVs | https://technical.ly/entrepreneurship/super-powers-mobility-electric-vehicle-launch/
[Technical.ly, January 2026] Sportstech startup Diamond Kinetics raises $12M from … | https://technical.ly/entrepreneurship/diamond-kinetics-12m-investment-pittburgh-money-moves/
[Defence Blog, July 2026] Pittsburgh startup pitches EV kit to elite troops | https://defence-blog.com/pittsburgh-startup-pitches-ev-kit-to-elite-troops/
[Uma Ventures, July 2025] Partnering with Super Powers Mobility to Accelerate Dual-Use Electric Off-Road Powertrains | https://www.umaventures.com/2025/07/21/uma-ventures-invests-in-super-powers-mobility-electric-off-road-powertrains/
[LinkedIn, Retrieved 2026] Daniel Atanasovski | Systems Engineering Director | https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielatanasovski/
[spm.fun/products/evk, Retrieved 2026] EVK | https://spm.fun/products/evk
[spm.fun/products/spm-evk-pre-order, Retrieved 2026] SPM EVK Pre-Order | https://spm.fun/products/spm-evk-pre-order
[Pittsburgh Business Times, January 2026] Homewood electric UTV startup Super Powers Mobility raises $1.3M pre-seed round | Pittsburgh Business Times | https://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/news/2026/01/13/super-powers-mobility-pre-seed.html
[thoughtliters.beehiiv.com] He Built The "Tesla of Off-Road" (Ex-Tesla Engineer) | https://thoughtliters.beehiiv.com/p/he-built-the-tesla-of-off-road-vehicles
Articles about Super Powers Mobility
- Bolt-On Electric Powertrain, Super Powers Mobility’s $1.3 Million Bet — The ex-Tesla Cybertruck engineer is pitching the kit to the U.S. military and gas-powered UTV owners.