PowerLink USA High Voltage Cable | A Domestic Solution for OEM's and Tier 1's

PowerLink USA High Voltage Cable

A Domestic Cable Solution for Electrification Applications

Overview

Electrification across transportation, heavy equipment, and energy systems continues to accelerate. As voltage levels increase, high voltage cable assemblies play a critical role in performance, safety, and system reliability. At the same time, OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers face rising tariffs, long lead times, single source supply challenges, and growing pressure for domestic content.

PowerLink USA is a high voltage cable solution developed to address these challenges. Manufactured in the United States and supported by Amphenol TPI, PowerLink USA enables customers to reduce landed cost, mitigate tariff exposure, and strengthen their supply chain while maintaining compatibility with industry leading standard connectors.

The Industry Challenge

Manufacturers designing electrified platforms are encountering several consistent issues.

Tariffs continue to impact imported high voltage cable, increasing total system cost even when final assemblies are produced in North America under USMCA. Global sourcing also introduces long lead times, logistics risk, and uncertainty tied to geopolitical conditions.

Many OEM programs require compliance with Buy America or domestic content initiatives. Imported cable can complicate qualification and limit program eligibility.

Material selection also presents challenges. Silicone based high voltage cable may offer lower initial cost but often lacks durability and requires additional protection in demanding environments.

The PowerLink USA Approach

PowerLink USA is a U.S. manufactured custom XLPO/XLPE insulated high voltage (1500 VDC) cable engineered for durability, performance, and flexibility. The e-beamed crosslinked jacket provides market leading abrasion, temperature, chemical and UV resistance (mechanical and zero color fade) for harsh environment applications. Color fade resistance has proven to be a critical cable parameter relating to application design life and high voltage identification and safety requirements. PowerLink USA is designed and validated to ISO 19642-5/9, providing a 150°C @ 10,000 hour Class D cable solution.

Key characteristics include U.S. based extrusion and e-beaming, shielded construction, and compatibility with common high voltage connectors used in today’s electrification platforms including the “-5” configurations of PowerLok G1, G2, and PowerLok Plus connectors.

By focusing on total system cost rather than cable price alone, PowerLink USA helps OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers address tariff exposure and supply chain risk for both new development platforms via in stock supply as well as mature programs with volume supply as a second source.

Why XLPE/XLPO Matters

XLPO/XLPE insulation is widely recognized for its mechanical strength and long-term performance in high voltage applications.

Compared to silicone, our custom XLPO/XLPE blend provides improved durability, better resistance to abrasion & UV, and long-term thermal performance without requiring additional conduit or protective measures. This makes it well suited for mobile equipment, transportation platforms, and industrial electrification environments. Superior crosslinking is achieved via a e-beam process to provide the highest class of XLPO/XLPE jackets.

PowerLink USA leverages domestic XLPO/XLPE processing capabilities to deliver a rugged domestic solution designed for long service life and demanding operating conditions.

Tariff Mitigation and Landed Cost Reduction

PowerLink USA is designed to help customers reduce total landed cost on high voltage cable assemblies.

When U.S. origin cable is used, assemblies imported into the United States can avoid or mitigate severe cable and interconnect related tariffs. This remains true even when final assembly occurs in Canada or Mexico.

For many programs, the cost savings are driven not by lower cable pricing but by eliminating tariff exposure across the full assembly and all components, providing the lowest landed cost with regional production. This approach provides a meaningful advantage in competitive sourcing and long-term production planning.

Supply Chain and Development Advantages

PowerLink USA supports both development and production programs.

Low volume lengths are available to support rapid prototyping and validation. Production reels are supplied to support volume manufacturing through Amphenol TPI.

This flexibility allows OEMs and harness suppliers to accelerate design cycles while reducing dependency on overseas cable sources.

MADE IN THE USA

Domestic Content and Buy America Support

PowerLink USA supports domestic content and Buy America requirements due to its U.S. manufactured cable construction.

This enables manufacturers to meet sourcing requirements for regulated or government funded programs while maintaining flexibility where assemblies are produced.

Applications and Target Markets

PowerLink USA is suitable for a wide range of electrification applications including electric trucks and buses, off highway equipment, material handling vehicles, and energy storage systems.

In general, any application utilizing “orange” high voltage cable represents a potential use case for PowerLink USA.

Custom Cable and Engineering Support

In addition to the standard shielded constructions, PowerLink USA supports custom cable designs based on application requirements. Jacket OD’s, multi-core, unshielded cables, conductor stranding, aluminum, colors, certification (ex. UL) and more can be selected for interconnect and application compatibility.

Amphenol TPI provides engineering and development support to assist with validation, connector compatibility, and application specific requirements.

This approach helps customers integrate PowerLink USA without disruptive development timelines.

Learn More

To learn more about PowerLink USA, visit: https://www.tpil.com/product/powerlink-hv-usa/ or contact us at [email protected]