Pittsburgh startup Super Powers Mobility demonstrates electric vehicle kit for US special operations forces

Super Powers Mobility (SPM) recently demonstrated its Energized Vehicle Kit (EVK) to special operations forces at two separate events in Nevada and Utah. The kit is a battery and power system designed to bolt onto existing light tactical all-terrain vehicles (LTATVs) — the small, rugged off-road trucks that special operations units rely on for fast, low-profile movement across difficult terrain.

Demonstration Vehicles

The vehicles used in the demonstration are variants of the Polaris MRZR, a platform that has become the default light tactical vehicle for U.S. Special Operations Command and allied forces worldwide. The MRZR is prized for its ability to fit inside helicopters and move quietly across terrain that would stop a full-size truck.

Two Configurations

SPM's kit comes in two configurations built around the same core concept: extracting more usable electrical power from a small vehicle without sacrificing off-road capability.

EVK-Augmented Configuration

The first configuration, called EVK-Augmented, keeps the vehicle's existing diesel engine intact and adds a 470-volt, 10-kilowatt-hour battery pack weighing 120 pounds (54.4 kilograms). This gives the MRZR Alpha the ability to export electricity silently at standard voltages of 24, 48, 120, or 240 volts without needing to idle the combustion engine.

Why silent power matters: Radios, sensors, night vision equipment, electronic warfare gear, and other battlefield electronics require a steady, reliable power source. Traditional solutions involve either:

• Running a vehicle's engine continuously (which burns fuel and creates noise and heat signatures that can reveal a team's position)
• Hauling a separate portable generator (known in the military as an MEP set, short for Mobile Electric Power)

SPM claims its battery packs deliver roughly six times the power density of a traditional MEP generator. This figure has not been independently verified but highlights the tradeoff every team faces between carrying enough power generation capacity and keeping their load light enough to stay mobile.

Power output: According to SPM, the augmented configuration can deliver up to 30 kilowatts of continuous power export and handle bursts as high as 100 kilowatts for short periods. These numbers significantly exceed the exportable power options Polaris has previously built into factory MRZR variants, which Defense News reported in 2024 topped out at around 5 kilowatts for a built-in system and just 1 kilowatt for a comparable bolt-on kit.

Hot-swapping capability: The battery packs support hot-swapping, meaning a depleted battery can be removed and replaced with a charged one without powering down the vehicle's systems entirely. This would allow a unit to keep exporting power indefinitely as long as fresh batteries continue to arrive through the supply chain.

Fully Electric Configuration

SPM's second configuration goes further by replacing the combustion engine entirely. Tested on the MRZR D4, this version swaps in a 20-kilowatt-hour battery pack as a direct, field-installable bolt-in replacement for the diesel powertrain. The company says a similar conversion applied to the civilian Polaris RZR XP1000 uses a smaller 10-kilowatt-hour pack.

According to SPM, the fully electric configuration delivers the same power export capability as the augmented version while adding:

• A reduced thermal signature (no engine block generating heat that infrared sensors could detect)
• Autonomous operation capability
• Silent mobility rated at 165 horsepower and 160 pound-feet of torque (217 newton-meters)

If accurate, these figures would put the electric powertrain's output roughly in line with or ahead of the gas-powered MRZR variants it replaces.

Broader Military Context

This combination of silence and sustained off-grid power output aligns with a broader shift the U.S. military and its special operations community have been pursuing for years. A 2023 assessment published by the defense publication European Security and Defence noted that U.S. Special Operations Command has invested considerable effort in developing hybrid-electric and fully electric concept vehicles. The reason: reduced acoustic and thermal signatures allow small teams to operate closer to adversaries without being detected.

Image by Super Powers Mobility