Last week, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced the creation of the Michigan Office of Future Mobility and Electrification and named Trevor Pawl as the state’s chief mobility officer. Pawl has extensive experience in business development for the Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC) and has been a leader for PlanetM, a mobility initiative representing mobility efforts across the state.

https://www.michiganbusiness.org/press-releases/2020/07/michigans-office-of-future-mobility-and-electrification-formally-launches-sets-course-for-economic-growth-job-creation/

Pawl talks about his plans for the new office and the intention to take advantage of ongoing collaborative efforts between the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), MEDC, and other government agencies, as well as academia and private industry.

Also discussed: the life-saving benefits of technologies automakers are developing on the road to further automation of vehicles. As the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) observes:

Driver assistance technologies in today’s motor vehicles are already helping to save lives and prevent injuries. A number of today’s new motor vehicles have technology that helps drivers avoid drifting into adjacent lanes or making unsafe lane changes, warns drivers of other vehicles behind them when they are backing up, or brakes automatically if a vehicle ahead of them stops or slows suddenly, among other things. These and other safety technologies use a combination of hardware (sensors, cameras, and radar) and software to help vehicles identify certain safety risks so they can warn the driver to act to avoid a crash.

Here are some other links and references from this week’s edition:

PlanetM initiative: https://www.planetm.com/

A December 2019 conversation on the podcast with John Peracchio, who chaired the Michigan Council on Future Mobility: https://soundcloud.com/talkingmitransportation/talking-michigan-transportation-the-michigan-council-on-future-mobility-driverless-cars-toll-roads-and-electric-vehicle-charging

NHTSA focus on automated vehicles and safety: https://www.nhtsa.gov/technology-innovation/automated-vehicles-safety

The Economist on investments in electric vehicles: https://www.economist.com/business/2019/04/17/big-carmakers-are-placing-vast-bets-on-electric-vehicles