Toyota Mobility Foundation and the City of Detroit made it clear they were looking to redefine what people thought of mobility when the two launched the Detroit Edition of the Sustainable Mobility Challenge with the goal of creating mobility solutions for use in Detroit’s iconic Eastern Market.

A year has passed since we last checked in with the contest and the two once again visited Eastern Market to name the three winners that emerged after a year of testing and evaluation.

A trio of winners

The challenge is part of a broader suite of national challenges but in Detroit, the goal of this particular challenge was to demonstrate clean freight solutions that would reduce fossil fuel use, lower freight costs, and encourage cleaner movement of goods.

One of the winners is Civilized Cycles a firm that we had the chance to get very familiar with last year. Civilized Cycles won with their Semi-Trike which uses a front mounted bike cab and a rear mounted enclosed trailer (other trailer options are available) to create a stable hauling platform. The challenge allowed the company to show how the Semi-trike could be used when moving around within the confines of the market while also allowing guests to experience how easy it is to operate once you get moving. Zachary Schieffelin, Co-Founder and CEO of Civilized Cycles stated;

“The Sustainable Cities Challenge gave us the platform to prove that ultra-light electric freight vehicles can meet commercial demand. Detroit offered an ideal opportunity to test and demonstrate their potential in a real-world commercial environment. With this support, we’re expanding production and advancing a cleaner, more efficient model for how goods move through cities.”

Meanwhile, Electricfish chose to address the classic problem of charging electric vehicles and entered its recently launched 400squared™ a 400 kW battery integrated fast-charger with the company having a demonstration model in the parking lot. ELetricfish co-founder Anurag Kamal co-fouder and CEO of Electricfish released a statement saying

“Detroit showed us what is possible when public and private collaborators come together to build resilient approaches to our nation’s critical infrastructure. We are excited to continue working with this forward-thinking city on deploying clean mobility to accelerate electrification, which may serve as a blueprint for the future of industrial growth and reducing carbon emissions at scale.”

Last but not least is Neology a Swedish based company producing and developing power systems that can produce hydrogen and electricity independently with the hydrogen being produced from ammonia. Neology has done plenty of work since it was announced as a finalist last year with the firm performing more than ten live demonstrations across Detroit, generating approximately 300 kWh of clean energy – enough to power an average U.S. home for 10 days – and producing approximately 20 kilograms of hydrogen from ammonia.

Part of a broader plan

A big change from last year was actually in the Mayor’s office, with Mary Sheffield taking over from Mike Duggan after his term ended. Sheffield delivered a brief statement saying

“Big ideas in clean freight technology have found their home in Detroit. This means cleaner air and a brighter future for residents. We are grateful to the Toyota Mobility Foundation for choosing Detroit out of more than 250 cities across the globe. Our residents gain cleaner air, innovators gain a city serious about sustainability, and together we embody Detroit’s legacy of innovation.

She was joined by Vince Keenan Head of Engagement Innovation for the City of Detroit’s Office of Mobility Innovation, “The Mayor’s Office of Mobility Innovation is designed to push big ideas. Whether it’s zero-emission micro-freight solutions that can zip through traffic to avoid (and prevent) congestion, fleet charging solutions that can deploy the capacity to charge in the same time it takes to fill up with diesel and a peek around the corner to the hydrogen solutions that could one day eliminate emissions entirely. The SCC has enabled Detroit to kick the tires on the future of clean freight today.”