Lead-Lag Live

The Clean Power Shift: Steven Rossi on Solis, COR, and Why Worksport Is Building the Future of Portable Energy

• Michael A. Gayed, CFA

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In this episode of Lead-Lag Live, I sit down with Steven Rossi, Founder and CEO of Worksport, to break down the company’s clean-energy transformation — including the long-awaited launch of the COR portable power system and the SOLIS solar tonneau cover.

Steven explains how COR’s modular batteries, onboard inverter system, and solar integration are designed to create a new category in portable power — one that serves contractors, overlanders, EV owners, and emergency-preparedness users with a scalable nano-grid you can take anywhere. He also shares Worksport’s roadmap for growth, manufacturing strategy, and how SOLIS + COR work together as a complete energy ecosystem.

In this episode:
– How the COR power system works — and why it’s built to scale
– Why modular batteries and a centralized hub change the game for portability
– How SOLIS integrates with COR to create a mobile solar nano-grid
– Why Worksport is betting on clean, portable energy as its core business
– The growth roadmap ahead as the company pushes into 2025 and beyond

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#Worksport #COR #SOLIS #CleanEnergy #PortablePower #EVTrucks #RenewableEnergy

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SPEAKER_00:

For the job site, you show up with a pickup truck or just our core, and you brought your own power that doesn't need oil changes, doesn't make a noise, and doesn't make a smell. And you're able to power your entire job site and anything that you could plug into a wall outlet at that power rating. So pretty big, like saws and tools that you would need, you could plug into our core. And we offer unlimited energy, the only of its kind to offer unlimited energy through our modular swappable batteries.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm your host, Melanie Schaefer. Welcome to Lead Lab Live. Work Sport Ticker WKSP on the NASDAQ is making a big shift. Their upcoming SOLUS, Solar2Know, and Core Portable Power Systems are launching November 28, 2025, which is next week. And that's just as the company bets on clean energy demand in work, recreation, and emergency power sectors. These aren't just accessories. They're part of a modular nano grid systems designed in the US and engineered to scale. On top of that, Worksport has secured a major pilot contract. A U.S. construction firm with a large fleet is testing SOLUS and core on its trucks. My guest today is Stephen Rossi, CEO of Worksport. Steven, it's great to have you here.

SPEAKER_00:

Thanks for having me, Melanie. I appreciate it. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01:

So let's start from day one. What has your founding vision for Worksport been? And how did you decide to pivot from the traditional truck covers into clean energy and portable power?

SPEAKER_00:

Our vision was always to do better. We believe that we um we we borrow the the planet from our children as opposed to inherit it from our ancestors. So we got to make sure that we're leaving things in better condition than we're finding them. Um although I'm a truck fanatic, uh trucks these days are much more efficient than they were uh decades past. Um so our our vision has always been to build meaningfully innovative products in active markets. Uh so we started with our foundational product, which is tunnel covers uh for pickup trucks, uh, the bed covers for the back of F-150s, Chevrolet Silverado, these trucks that you see littering uh roads within North America. And that that we call it foundation product just because you know Sony's first product was a humble rice cooker. Um, uh 3M's first product was sandpaper, and our foundational product is humble, our humble tunnel covers for pickup trucks. But we always had something greater in mind, and that was starting to hybridize how people use these, the beds of their trucks as more like blank canvases for amazing opportunities where we could harness solar energy while protecting the bed, uh and then providing consumers with power on the go for job site, campsite, first responders, or when things aren't that good, like uh natural disasters or emergencies.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so you mentioned uh Sony's first product, which is interesting. Oh, I want to talk a little bit more about your products. You've launched two major products, uh Solus and Core. How do these systems work together? And what makes them unique compared to other portable power or solar integrated products that are already out there?

SPEAKER_00:

Great question. So we are the inventor of the solar folding tonneau cover. There's the only one that exists, and it's ours. So the Solus is our solar folding tonneau cover for pickup trucks, and it's custom made. Uh, these units are custom made to fit um on your F-150 or Chevrolet Silverado. So we're launching the product in in a few weeks, and the product is made um application specific. So if you you have to specifically pick the truck that you have, and we uh then hand build a unit for you. And and the the the solace solar tunnel cover produces a very meaningful amount of energy, which is upwards of 600 watts. Now, 600 watts is significant when the average flat screen TV, large flat screen TV, consumes anywhere around 50 to 60 watts. So you're thinking about tailgating. Well, you know, heck, you could power a pretty big party with just a solar folding tunnel cover, never needing a smelly gas generator or having to run long extension cords. So it's it's a fantastic opportunity on the solace solar tunnel cover side. The core is what harnesses the energy and stores it. It's a modular, portable battery system. And what's interesting is you don't need to have a pickup truck to use our core system. Our core, our power battery generator system, is meant for anyone anywhere uh on grid or off-grid, whether you have a pickup truck or not, our solace just merely supercharges our core battery systems.

SPEAKER_01:

So you're you're so close to the launch, but I want to take a step back from prototype to production. What were the biggest technical or design burdens that you and your team faced to bring uh these to the market?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, but it's been it's been a number of years in development. Um, and when we look at uh companies taking time to develop products, we look at, for example, Apple having taken uh over five years to launch their first iPhone. And and what's in the DNA of a of a of a phone is very similar to what's in the DNA of our battery generator system, in that it has graphic user interfaces, batteries, EMI, uh, electromagnetic magnetic radiation, um, has uh UL certifications. So let me let me bucket the the answer to the question on the solar folding tunnel cover. Uh, we had to make something that was robust, that could handle uh high speeds, handle uh inclement weather, whether it's hail or rain or snow. Um, and we also had to make it operable thousands of times, something that could fold and move and transport, really just face the elements much more than static mounted solar arrays. So it took us a number of years to find, number of years to find the best uh solar uh partner for us to make the cells themselves or panels themselves. And then we had to develop a product that could handle the rigorous use required by people that own pickup trucks. And and the high and joining both together uh led us to where we are today with a product that's ready for launch, that's been tested by some amazing fleets. The core shares much of the DNA of a phone, a cell phone. It has a touch screen, it has batteries, it has all the same certifications. So we had to become experts in um how a product should work for a customer, look, feel, touch, but then also developing all the all the circuit boards, um, develop uh utilizing all the proper testing, um, all the way down to packaging. So it's been a significant amount of effort, uh, over three years of effort and a series of testings uh to make sure that the product's safe because it's such a huge amount of power as well. Uh so it's been it's been a long road, but we've we've solved all of the problems and we're we're super excited about uh the coming weeks ahead.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, even you mentioned snow, and if you follow a meteorologist like I do, they're calling for a horrible winter, at least for the East Coast this year. But that brings me to my next question. Can you share a couple of real-world examples from contractors, overlanders, job site users, et cetera, about how Solus and Core are already proving their value in the field?

SPEAKER_00:

So, you know, we we say job site, campsite, and we also say those that swing a hammer and those that swing a golf club. And those are often the same individual. Um, so let's talk about job site. Um, in average home builds, the utility, when you're building a new house, the utility will give you one outlet with which you could build a house. So imagine you're building a 3,500 square foot house and you have all these trades: framing, grouping, drywall, plumbing, all of these trades have one plug to uh an up and then a lower plug to plug into 15 amps. Um, oftentimes we hear of actual fights, a rough thing from job sites where people are are splitting all of this power and unplugging the plumber's power for the electrician's power and and and and you're trying to, you know, these job sites are trying to complete the project and they find it very difficult. So for the job site, you show up with a pickup truck or just our core, uh, and you brought your own power uh that doesn't need oil changes, doesn't make a noise, and doesn't make a smell, and you're able to power your entire job site and anything that you could plug into a wall outlet at that power rating. So pretty big uh like saws and tools that you would need, you could plug into our core. And we offer unlimited energy, the only of its kind to offer unlimited energy through our modular swappable batteries. So on the job site, you've now brought energy with you to complete the job that you have without having to fight and wrestle and run extension cords. Um, from the campsite, more and more individuals are getting off-grid. More and more individuals are finding uh nature and getting camping, uh, going further into uh, you know, high high like uh the public parks and these types of things. Uh and more people are doing uh jobs outside as well. So uh we find for the campsite, it's also a fantastic opportunity uh for those to kind of glamp to be able to bring power with them to charge your apparatuses. And then we have all these amazing in-between markets like tailgating, sporting events, weddings, these types of things where you don't have to worry about where the energy is going to come from. You could bring it with you. Um, so the the core is a fantastic opportunity for people to bring power with them that's quiet uh and clean.

SPEAKER_01:

So is this something that people could take camping and then uh charge their EV if they're if they're right out back?

SPEAKER_00:

So, yeah, with our battery generator, you could level one charge your EV. So it's kind of like a small uh gas can, if you will, of energy. Um, and uh we're working on the next stages of the solace. The next stage of our solar tunnel cover would be to integrate with electric vehicle trucks to offer passive charging. Right now, our solace is meant to just charge battery generators. But the next step for us is we're gonna offer the solace, uh, we're gonna look to integrate the solace directly with the EV truck, like the F-150 Lightning or GMC C or EV. Um, and that will provide five or 10 free miles of range every single day completely from the sun.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so you've just sort of hit on it, but you you said that Worksforce is entering a new growth phase with these products. How do these lunches tie into your revenue roadmap and where do you see your business heading over the next uh 12 to 24 months?

SPEAKER_00:

Very good question. Um, so our foundation product are tunnel covers, and we believe that that market uh will will get us somewhere around nine figures, so$100 million in revenues plus. We don't know exactly where, but we're obviously going to go for as much as possible. Once we get into solar energy and battery generators, we get into uh a much less uh consolidated or sorry, much less specific market or niche market, uh, in that it's the global market for power electronics or consumer electronics. Uh so it's anyone anywhere could use our core. It could be uh your grandmother, grandfather, mother, father, you know, kids going off to college. It really doesn't matter. Um so to that extent, it it opens us up to a multi-billion dollar opportunity on a global scale. Um, so you could think Europe, you could think Asia, you could think Australia and North, South, and Central America. Um so to that extent, we think that the revenue opportunity for the opportunity for the core of the as the first of its kind with unlimited modular energy and the solace, the first of its kind solar folding tunnel cover array, just in those two products alone, could be significant in upwards of 10 figures, a billion dollars plus is what we think that we could achieve in the market as it is. However, we're starting to think about where how we can integrate our products further into people's homes uh and further into people's um, you know, maybe uh job sites or trailers, RVs, marine applications, and these types of things. So there's going to be additional iterations and versions of our products that'll go deeper into uh people's lives and lifestyles.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and you've mentioned uh manufacturing footprint is US-based. Why was it so important for you to build Solace and Core in America? And how has that decision shaped your quality costs and uh your innovation?

SPEAKER_00:

So we we saw that um there's always, I mean, I've been in business since I was uh since I was fairly young. I just turned 40 and I've started my first business in 18. And I've done a lot of business uh in foreign manufacturing. And uh there's always challenges in terms of the iterative process of a new product. Uh so you launch a new product and you need to obviously make changes, improvements. And this process, the further away from where it's sold, uh takes longer and ultimately results in the customer not getting the best as fast as possible. So being able to produce products within North America as and specifically in the US as our primary market, uh, has been very important for us. Uh so to that extent, uh strategically, uh having a near quarter million square foot facility in New York where we produce everything has been fantastically strategic in us being able to deliver the best possible product as fast as possible to our customers, which is ultimately what the customer deserves these days.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it's sort of you're saying it's a it's a new category, the portable nano grid. How do you see this category developing over the next decade? And what role do you think Work Sport will play as a leader?

SPEAKER_00:

So we the a common theme in those that speak about energy is that the power grids within North America do not have the infrastructure available to provide all of the power that we need for day-to-day operations, uh EB charging, as well as the significant demand of energy for um things like uh artificial intelligence, uh maybe even crypto mining, these things are all power heavy and they're not gonna get, we're not gonna do less of it in the future. We're gonna do more of it. So I think that the common theme, the success in the future will be to those that offer unique ways of providing power. And I think that instead of rebuilding our grids within North America and running more power lines, I think that we're gonna be looking at nano grids. Um, so I think that houses are going to uh provide the battery storage opportunities or options to power houses on a day-to-day basis. So we're gonna take it from big grid to nano grid, which are gonna absolve us of any uh issues during natural disasters or ice storms or hurricanes and these types of things where we have big power outages. So I see the future of homes having their own power systems, and I see that Worksport will be a part of that in being able to offer a modular at-home power system that you could simply take blocks of energy with you to the campsite, to the job site. And I see that as being a huge opportunity to be able to de-stress the grid while getting people off-grid.

SPEAKER_01:

So Justin, that you uh imagined crypto mining, that could be an entire uh new conversation. But Steven, just to uh finish up for investors and even advisors watching today who want to follow your clean tech journey or learn more about Solicit Core, where's the best place for them to go to connect with you and the team?

SPEAKER_00:

Um, so uh you can find us at Worksport LTD on all major social media. Uh, you can find me on LinkedIn, of course, and on Twitter uh just by searching my name. Uh and we're we're always we're just one phone call or click or email away, and we're very responsive. Happy to connect with anybody that wants to hear more about the Worksport story.

SPEAKER_01:

Perfect. Well, Steven, thank you so much for joining me, and thanks to everyone for watching. Be sure to like, share, and subscribe for more episodes of Lead Lag Live.

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Michael A. Gayed, CFA

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