Michigan’s smart mobility consortium has announced the winners of the inaugural PlanetM Awards, which will showcase innovations in transportation platforms and technologies, and will be presented at the 2018 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS).
Designed to honor enterprises developing mobility-focused platforms and technologies, the new PlanetM Awards are a partnership between PlanetM, a Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) program, and AutoMobili-D, the NAIAS event’s future technologies showcase. The 2018 NAIAS is taking place in Detroit, Michigan, from January 13-28. Each PlanetM Awards category winner will go into a final selection round for the PlanetM Best in Show award. Separately, PlanetM will also announce a Startup of the Year award from the exhibiting startups at the show.
The 2018 PlanetM Award winners are:
Autonomous Driving – CARMERA for its Autonomous Map, which is a real-time, street-level intelligence platform for autonomous vehicles (AV) and the built environment that offers live 3D maps and navigation-critical data to verify, localize and path-plan;
Connected Car – VOXX Automotive for its EVO Rear Seat Entertainment system, which brings a smart home television experience into the car, requiring only power/ground connections to offer inputs for all digital devices, gaming consoles, and streaming sticks;
eMobility – URB-E for producing the world’s most compact foldable electric vehicle, which is made with carbon fiber and aircraft-grade aluminum, and provides a last-mile transportation solution;
Mobility Services – Parkofon, a venture-backed smart mobility company using the Internet of Things to develop an all-in-one device for urban commuting, starting with parking;
Smart Cities – Immotor for its GO II, which is a transformative electric scooter with a discreet, ultraportable design and unique three-wheel stability that uses a revolutionary, customizable and removable power source, and was created as a tool to help solve the first/last mile commuter problem and provide city dwellers an alternative, clean mode of transport.
“For our inaugural year, we received an overwhelming number of entries for the PlanetM Awards at AutoMobili-D,” said Trevor Pawl, group vice president of PlanetM at the MEDC. “This speaks to Michigan’s leadership in the field of mobility innovation and the impact it is having across the globe. At AutoMobili-D, all eyes will be on Detroit to see the latest mobility advancements, highlighting the companies, universities and research entities powering the solutions of tomorrow. We’re excited to honor the best of this world-class group.”
