TOLEDO, Ohio — The Electric Vehicle Innovation Summit (EVIS), which has held five editions in Abu Dhabi, makes its North American debut next week. EVIS America 2026 opens Nov. 3 with industry tours of Endera, the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority (TARTA) and The University of Toledo, followed by two days of conference sessions and the Innovation Expo at Toledo's Glass City Center on Nov. 4–5.
One stage, three themes
Instead of separate tracks, the program runs a single main stage organized around three themes: EVIS America (EVs, batteries and charging), FutureFuelCON (hydrogen and alternative fuels) and Mobility TechEX (AI, autonomous systems and connected vehicles). Sessions cover U.S. charging policy, vehicle-to-grid, AI-powered commercial fleets and how electric, hydrogen and other fuels will coexist.
Who to watch: AI, robotics and autonomy
RoboSense — Peipei Zhao, President, North America, of the Chinese LiDAR maker, which shipped 282,600 LiDAR units for robotics and other non-automotive uses in H1 2026, up 510.4% year over year.
Nissan Advanced Technical Center — Najam Mirza Baig, Head of AI & Mobility Services, Silicon Valley.
Uber AI Solutions — Rafael Oliveira, Senior Solutions Architect.
American Center for Mobility — Dr. Sushanta Das, VP of R&D at the Michigan AV testing ground.
Lincoln Electric — Bruce Chantry, VP of EV Solutions; the Ohio welding-automation leader exhibits its Velion DC fast chargers.
EV Bots — founder Virind Gujral; the startup develops autonomous robotic EV charging and drone charging, exhibiting in the Launch Zone.
Roger Atkins, founder of Electric Vehicles Outlook Ltd and an advisory board member, will deliver opening remarks and moderate. Other speakers come from BloombergNEF, JobsOhio, DriveOhio, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, DHL, CharIN North America and Plug In America.
Why Toledo
EVIS America is organized by Leading Events USA with co-organizer Tradeshow Logic. Organizers say they target accessible, affordable second-tier cities, and local partners say Toledo was their first choice in the U.S. Northwest Ohio is home to Stellantis' Toledo Assembly Complex (Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator) and a GM propulsion plant, and sits about an hour from Detroit. Regional Growth Partnership Northwest Ohio is the official strategic partner.
"EVIS America represents an opportunity to connect the people and ideas shaping the future of mobility across local, national and global markets," said Hesham Al Bahri, COO of Leading Events USA and founder of EVIS America.
The first edition is compact: organizers told The Blade they expect 250 to 300 attendees.
EDITOR'S NOTE
EVIS America brings a Gulf-born mobility brand into America's auto corridor at a moment when U.S. federal EV support has cooled. Its choice to share the stage among EVs, hydrogen and AI-driven autonomy reflects that hedge. For robotics readers, the value is in the speaker list rather than the expo floor: RoboSense's robotics-led growth and EV Bots' charging robots point to where electrification and physical AI converge.
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