Silicon Carbide (SiC) emerges as the dominant material for high-power, high-voltage power devices due to its superior performance compared to traditional silicon-based devices. Therefore, SiC devices constitute a disruptive technology with applications e.g. in solar inverters, datacenter power supplies, fast chargers and drivetrain inverters for e-mobility [1]. A shift from 6-inch to 8-inch wafer material results in approximately 78% more available area per wafer. This transition facilitates cost-efficient production due to the utilization of 8-inch high-end equipment, which was initially developed for the silicon device industry. In the context of growing high-quality SiC crystals through physical vapor transport (PVT), precise control of thermal fields plays a critical role [2]. The primary drawback of inductive heating lies in its dependence on the electrical properties of the graphite crucible and insulation, specifically within the ‘Hot Zone.’ (see Fig. 1). Graphite’s electrical conductivity is challenging to control due to variations in density, porosity, and degree of graphitization during production. Additionally, critical material properties degrade significantly during the crystal growth process, necessitating frequent and costly replacement of crucible components. Resistively heated furnaces for SiC PVT growth potentially enable enhanced control of the thermal field, with potential advantages for defect density reduction and additional benefits regarding reproducibility and cost [3]. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility of growing high-quality SiC crystals in resistive furnaces. For the assessment of the crystal quality, we show the results of defect mapping techniques such as photoluminescence (PL), X-ray Topography (XRT), and defect quantification using KOH etching and machine learning based image analysis using a region-based convolutional neural network (R-CNN) (see Fig. 2). In summary, the presented research contributes to our knowledge of silicon carbide (SiC) crystal growth in resistive furnaces. Our findings open-up opportunities for optimizing furnace technology and growth processes in terms of cost effectiveness and crystal quality.