Autodesk AutoCAD Electrical 2027

About this release

This is the drafting platform everyone already knows with the controls toolset layered on top, and the difference that toolset makes is that the drawing stops being a picture of a circuit and starts being a model of one. Wires know what they are connected to, components know their part numbers, and terminals know which strip they sit on, which means the reports at the end of the job come out of the drawing rather than out of a spreadsheet somebody maintained by hand.

Symbol libraries cover the standards that controls work actually uses, so a schematic can be drawn to the convention the customer expects without redrawing a library first. Wire numbering and component tagging run automatically across the whole drawing set, they renumber sensibly when a sheet is inserted in the middle, and cross references between coils and their contacts update themselves rather than drifting out of date the moment a page moves.

The reporting is the part that saves the days. Bills of material, wire lists, terminal plans, cable schedules, connection tables and panel layouts generate from the drawing itself, so they are correct by construction. Panel layout works from the schematic, placing real footprints with real dimensions, which catches the enclosure that was always going to be too small before it is ordered rather than on the shop floor.

Underneath it all the general drafting is unchanged. The command line, layers, blocks, external references, layouts and plot configuration behave exactly as they do in the base product, drawings open in either, and the file format is the same one every consultant and contractor on the job already exchanges.

What it does

Intelligent wires and components

Connectivity is stored in the drawing, so what is on the sheet and what is in the reports cannot disagree.

Standards based symbol libraries

Schematics can be drawn to the convention a customer expects without building a library first.

Automatic numbering and tagging

Wire numbers and component tags apply across the set and renumber sensibly when sheets are inserted.

Self updating cross references

Coil and contact references follow their targets instead of going stale when pages move.

Generated reports

Bills of material, wire lists, terminal plans and cable schedules come straight out of the drawing.

Panel layout from schematic

Real footprints at real dimensions, so enclosure problems surface before anything is ordered.

Changed in this version

• Faster drawing open on large multi sheet project sets.
• Expanded manufacturer catalogue content for terminals and protective devices.
• Report generation reworked with better filtering and export options.
• Improved handling of projects shared between the base product and this toolset.
• Panel layout gains better clearance checking around wireways.

System requirements

Install order

1. Unpack the archive to a short path with no spaces.
2. Close any other drafting application before starting the installer.
3. Install and let the content libraries finish deploying before first launch.
4. Open the project manager and point it at your drawing set to build the cross reference index.

Worth knowing before you start

File details