State of Michigan Announces Grants to Create a More Accessible and Electrified Mobility Future in Michigan

Funding will enable real-world testing of mobility solutions at the Detroit Smart Parking Lab

LANSING, Mich. – The state of Michigan announced today two Michigan Mobility Funding Platform grants, which will enable enhanced real-world testing of mobility solutions. Mobility companies Arrive and WiTricity received a total of $85,000 to deploy and test mobility projects at the Detroit Smart Parking Lab (DSPL) to help address last-mile mobility barriers and enhance electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure.

“These grants and the testing they fund will help Michigan continue to lead the future of mobility and innovation, positioning Michigan’s economy for long-term economic growth and success,” said Governor Gretchen Whitmer. “These projects will build on our rich auto manufacturing heritage and help our mobility leaders create a more sustainable and accessible mobility ecosystem in our state, designed to benefit all of our residents and make their lives easier. Together, we will continue growing our economy, creating good-paying jobs, and getting things done.”

Announced by the Governor in August 2021, the DSPL is located at the Assembly Garage in Corktown and provides an open innovation platform and real-world testing site for parking-related mobility, logistics and EV charging technologies. Established by Bedrock, Bosch, Ford Motor Company and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), the DSPL is operated by the American Center for Mobility (ACM) and offers a collaborative, neutral platform for mobility innovators to examine ways to improve customer experiences as well as the efficient movement of vehicles and goods in defined spaces.

“Michigan is well-positioned to lead the charge on solving the mobility challenges of today and the future,” said Trevor Pawl, Chief Mobility Officer with the Office of Future Mobility and Electrification (OFME). “We are proud to support companies working at the Detroit Smart Parking Lab, as their projects are helping to define what the future of mobility could look like both here in Michigan and beyond our borders.”

The Michigan Mobility Funding Platform grants focus on catalyzing and scaling mobility solutions that improve environmental sustainability by encouraging EV adoption and charging infrastructure buildout, increasing access to affordable and reliable transportation options, and modernizing existing transportation systems. Together with its partners at Bosch, Ford Motor Company, and Bedrock, OFME reviews and administers grant applications for projects being launched at the Detroit Smart Parking Lab. Applications for funding through the platform are accepted on a rolling basis at michiganbusiness.org/mobility-funding.

Michigan Mobility Funding Platform Grant recipients through the DSPL are as follows:

Arrive/Tappy Guide ($35,000)
Arrive and Tappy Guide will integrate data from a network of Bosch cameras with built-in deep learning video analytics – a type of artificial intelligence – deployed in the DSPL into an app that provides real-time information regarding the location and availability of parking spaces and EV charging stations, as well as the location, type and availability of handicapped parking spaces. This information will also be used to create parking reservations and enable payment transactions.

Specifically, Tappy Guide – a smart city and mobility solution for senior citizens and people with disabilities – will help users locate and identify available accessible parking spaces for those who require either van-accessible or standard accessible parking spaces. The company will also be able to help users identify information such as wheelchair ramps, curbs, location for building entrances and exits, elevators, stairways, and parking structure entrances and exits.

“This joint testing venture will ultimately help to enable a more user-friendly mobility ecosystem in Michigan that provides travelers with the accessibility and parking options that they need, whenever and wherever they need them,” said John Petrous, Founder and Creator, Tappy Guide. “We are very excited to work with Arrive and take part in this DSPL pilot testing project.”

Meanwhile, Arrive – a leading provider of solutions for the last-mile of mobility, with technology that enables friction-free parking – will help to deeply connect charging experiences into the parking operating systems to deliver professional, efficient and profitable connected mobility solutions. As parking lots become digital, Arrive has merged with FLASH to further enable the company to provide real-time inventory, pricing and transactability through connected systems.

“Convenient and accessible chargers are one of the key barriers to mainstream adoption of electric vehicles. We are excited to partner with parking operators and property owners that will be key to the solution for multi-family and mixed-use residential real estate,” said Dan Roarty, Chief Operating Officer, FLASH. “This venture will unlock the real-time, space-level visibility that enables low-cost enforcement and integrated parking and charging reservation capabilities when paired with artificial intelligence.”

WiTricity ($50,000)
WiTricity, the inventor of highly resonant wireless charging and a pioneer of wireless EV charging, will work with ACM and the DSPL to upgrade an existing EV with its technologies, and deploy its WiTricity Halo™ wireless charging station within the DSPL that will enable the vehicle to charge while parked, without a plug. The demonstration will show that wireless EV charging is ready for broad commercialization to help accelerate a greener future.

“We’re excited to participate in DSPL’s promotion of technologies that enable smart parking, while proving the added benefits of wireless charging,” said Alex Gruzen, CEO, WiTricity. “We improve the driver experience with a simpler charging solution that’s just as fast and efficient as the plug. With the WiTricity Halo™ wireless charging solution you just park and walk away, always returning to a fully charged vehicle.”

Set to go live in the late summer of this year, DSPL visitors will soon be able to see the technology in action and experience the convenience and simplicity of charging EVs without cables.

About Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC)

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation is the state’s marketing arm and lead advocate for business development, job awareness and community development with the focus on growing Michigan’s economy. For more information on the MEDC and our initiatives, visit www.MichiganBusiness.org. For Pure Michigan® tourism information, your trip begins at www.michigan.org. Join the conversation on: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn, and Twitter.