Members include Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Stellantis, Toyota, Rivian, Waymo, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, United Auto Workers, House, and Senate Majority and Minority legislators, Clean Fuels Michigan, and eight state departments and agencies. 

Over the past year, the council engaged with stakeholders throughout the state in a series of workgroups to identify ways to overcome mobility challenges. These workgroups were supported by subject matter experts from the Center for Automotive Research, Peracchio and Co., and the American Center for Mobility. Based on the workgroup findings and guided by the three pillars outlined in the MI Future Mobility Plan, the following recommendations were made:  

Transition and grow our mobility industry and workforce. 

• Invest in bus rapid transit and spend $10 million to revive the state’s mobility challenges to solve for employment and equity barriers. 

• Fund a public relations campaign to enhance MI’s sustainability leadership. 
• Scale the Michigan EV Jobs Academy. 
• Create a global center of excellence for responsible artificial intelligence. 

Provide safer, greener, and more accessible transportation infrastructure 

• Expand Michigan’s Alternative Fuel Corridor opportunities for clean hydrogen and commission a study on hydrogen applications in commercial traffic. 
• Develop accessibility standards for EV chargers. 
• Create a state EV consumer incentive. 
• Fund a $45 million bus electrification program. 
• Expand use of sinking funds to support electric school bus deployments. 

• Support Phase Two of the MDOT work zone safety pilot program. 
• Design a clean fuels standard that works for Michigan. 

Lead the world in mobility and electrification policy and innovation 

• Invest $30 million into UAS technology development. 
• Pass legislation to preserve Michigan’s uniform, statewide automated vehicle policy. 
• Keep up the annual support for state mobility agencies’ capacity. 
• Pass legislation to create a mobility research and development talent tax credit. 
• Continue advocating to federal policymakers on important connected vehicle issues. 

“To remain the worldwide leader in mobility, Michigan must continue to reinvent public policies, invest in high-quality communities and infrastructure and continue deploying and testing mobility innovations,” said Susan Corbin, director of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity and chair of the Michigan Council on Future Mobility and Electrification. “We must also win more business attraction opportunities than our competition and develop outstanding talent that will lead our state into the next generation of mobility.” 

Since CFME’s 2021 annual report, major strides have been made to keep Michigan’s global mobility leadership intact. Key investments from 2022 include: 

• General Motors making a historic $7 billion investment across two Michigan facilities to expand assembly operations and battery cell production. 
• LG Energy Solution announcing a $1.7 billion investment, to add 1,200 new jobs and ramp up battery production in Holland, Michigan. 

• Ford announcing it would put $2 billion into assembly production and add 3,260 jobs in Wayne Co. 
• Our Next Energy announcing a $1.6 billion investment creating 2,112 jobs at their new gigafactory in Van Buren Township. 
• Gotion announcing a $2.36 billion investment creating 2,350 jobs at their new facility in Big Rapids. 
• Detroit-based drone software developer Airspace Link securing $23 million in Series B funding. 

These investments in electric vehicle production and advanced mobility are just the tip of the iceberg; more opportunities to invest in a skilled workforce, high-tech talent development and attraction, infrastructure readiness, and an attractive economic development environment lay on the horizon.