Domestic Tech Partnership Unlocks a Bottleneck in the 800V EV Race

VALLEY VIEW, OH – June 16, 2026 – In the global race to build faster-charging, more efficient electric vehicles, the biggest breakthroughs often come from the smallest components. A new partnership announced today between nanotechnology firm Peak Nano Systems and power electronics specialist Advanced Conversion aims to solve a critical engineering bottleneck that has quietly constrained the performance of next-generation EVs. By combining a novel nanolayered film with an advanced inverter design, the two companies have created one of the first fully domestic solutions for the demanding world of 800-volt (800V+) Silicon Carbide (SiC) power systems, a move with implications for technology, supply chain resilience, and national security.

Advanced Conversion, a subsidiary of Electro Technik Industries (ETI), has selected Peak Nano's NanoPlex™ LDF film to serve as the dielectric foundation for its new DC-link inverter. This component is crucial for managing the flow of power between an EV's battery and its motor. The collaboration promises to eliminate the thermal compromises that have forced designers to choose between performance and reliability, potentially accelerating the adoption of 800V architectures across high-performance cars, commercial trucks, and even electrified aviation.

The 800V Bottleneck

The automotive industry's pivot to 800V electrical architectures, up from the 400V standard, represents a step-change in EV capability. Higher voltage allows for significantly faster charging speeds and greater system efficiency, as less energy is lost as heat. This transition is enabled by the use of Silicon Carbide (SiC) semiconductors, which can switch power faster, handle higher voltages, and operate at much higher temperatures than traditional silicon.

However, this leap in performance has created a significant downstream challenge. The very characteristics that make SiC so effective—its speed and heat—place immense stress on the passive components surrounding it, particularly the DC-link capacitor. This capacitor's job is to smooth out the high-frequency electrical pulses from the inverter, but traditional polymer films used as the capacitor's dielectric material were never designed for such a harsh environment. When exposed to the high temperatures generated by SiC modules, these conventional films lose their ability to store charge effectively, a phenomenon known as derating.

To compensate, engineers have been forced into a series of costly compromises: using more film material to build oversized capacitors, adding weight and complexity, and investing in elaborate cooling systems to keep temperatures in check. These workarounds ultimately undermine the core efficiency and weight-saving advantages that SiC was meant to deliver. The DC-link capacitor, a relatively unheralded component, had become a limiting factor in system design.

"The market moved to 800V and Silicon Carbide faster than DC-link components could follow," said Jim Welsh, CEO of Peak Nano. "That gap has forced real trade-offs in size, weight, and cooling. We engineered NanoPlex LDF to close that gap so the capacitor is no longer the limiting factor."

A Nanotechnology Solution

Peak Nano's solution is rooted in advanced materials science. Its NanoPlex™ LDF is not a conventional polymer film but an engineered nanolayer architecture. This structure provides vastly superior thermal stability, directly addressing the derating problem. According to the company, the film maintains 95% of its room-temperature breakdown strength even at 135°C, a temperature where traditional films suffer significant performance degradation.

This resilience creates a 50-degree thermal margin, allowing designers to place the capacitor directly next to hot SiC modules without needing a thermal buffer. The film also enables 25% higher current handling at the same voltage and temperature. For vehicle engineers, this breakthrough replaces a forced compromise with a choice between two distinct advantages: either use less film to create a smaller, lighter, and more cost-effective capacitor, or use the same volume to achieve a higher voltage rating within the same physical footprint.

This advanced film is integrated into Advanced Conversion’s patented Power Ring DC-link platform. The platform's unique geometry delivers ultra-low loop inductance—critical for high-frequency SiC switching—and superior thermal coupling, creating a synergistic system that allows the NanoPlex film to perform at its full potential. The result is a complete DC-link inverter solution that meets 800V+ SiC requirements without the over-engineering that has plagued legacy designs.

Reshoring a Critical Link in the EV Supply Chain

Beyond the technical innovation, the partnership carries significant strategic weight. The supply chain for conventional high-performance capacitor film is heavily concentrated outside the United States, creating a potential vulnerability for domestic EV manufacturing and defense applications. This dependency has become a major concern for policymakers and industry leaders alike, particularly in the wake of recent global supply chain disruptions.

This new collaboration directly addresses that vulnerability. Peak Nano's NanoPlex film is designed and engineered in the U.S., while Advanced Conversion's manufacturing facilities are also domestic. The resulting product is one of the first fully domestic, high-performance DC-link solutions available to the market. This move aligns perfectly with a broader national strategy, underscored by initiatives like the CHIPS and Science Act and Department of Energy programs, to de-risk critical technology sectors and bolster American manufacturing.

For automotive OEMs and their Tier 1 suppliers, a secure, U.S.-based source for a critical power electronics component is a powerful incentive. It simplifies logistics, insulates against geopolitical volatility, and helps meet domestic content requirements.

"When we built a DC link that could keep pace with 800V+ SiC, we needed a film partner who could provide both the thermal margin and a supply we could count on… and Peak Nano delivered on both," noted Edward Sawyer, CEO of Advanced Power Conversion Solutions. "As traditional film supply has tightened, NanoPlex LDF gives us a high-performance, domestically sourced alternative that our customers can qualify with confidence. For where high-voltage e-mobility and grid-connected applications are heading, it's the right material from the right partner."

Accelerating Adoption and Proving Performance

To speed up adoption, the partners are not just offering a component but a pathway to validation. Advanced Conversion has developed an HP Drive Test Kit that allows engineering teams to integrate the NanoPlex LDF-powered DC-link with their inverter module of choice and directly evaluate its performance. This hands-on approach is designed to shorten design cycles and build confidence in the technology's real-world benefits.

While established giants like TDK and KEMET dominate the broader capacitor market, the Peak Nano and Advanced Conversion partnership is carving out a niche by focusing squarely on the most demanding frontier of power electronics. Their differentiation lies in the purpose-built nature of their solution for 800V+ SiC systems and the strategic value of its domestic supply chain.

The target applications span the most innovative segments of e-mobility, from the high-stakes world of Formula E racing and performance automotive to the workhorses of the economy like electric buses, heavy trucks, and industrial vehicles. As these sectors increasingly rely on the power density and efficiency of SiC, the demand for components that can keep pace is set to grow exponentially, placing this domestic partnership in a prime position to power the next phase of electrification.