the grid to ensure that a charging station, 
or two or three charging stations, are able 
to function in areas where maybe they 
wouldn’t otherwise,
” he explained.
Pawl said the state is looking into Israeli 
solutions for maritime mobility for recre-
ation and industry as well, given that trans-
portation on the Great Lakes is important to 
Michigan’s economy.

MICHIGAN ISRAEL
BUSINESS ACCELERATOR
Pawl emphasized that Michigan is seeking 
Israeli innovation in a variety of verticals, 
such as security, consumer goods and water 
and agricultural technologies, that generate 
local jobs.
The Michigan Israel Business 
Accelerator organizes trade missions a 
couple of times a year to facilitate matches 
between Michigan’s needs and Israel’s 
capabilities.
“Obviously, I only get involved in the 
transportation [and] mobility side of it,
” 
Pawl said, “and it was important that we 
brought some of the Michigan Department 
of Transportation lead consultants on inno-
vative projects — whether for bridges or 
for the future of automated payments — to 
EcoMotion to see what was going on in real 
time, with a clear focus on the market.
”
The accelerator, he continued, “has boots 
on the ground in Israel, allowing us to have 
a presence at cool events such as EcoMotion, 
and making sure that we’re meeting with 
high-level officials, going into the command 
centers for certain highways, and meeting 
with people who are trying to solve the 
micro-mobility congestion issue in cities.
”
Looking at the direction in which the 
automotive industry and smart cities are 
moving, Pawl said, “There’s more synergy 
than you would immediately think. You 
can’t afford not to be having a constant dia-
logue with leaders in Israel’s public sector 
and private sector.
”

MOBILITY AND SMART CITIES
Among the Israeli technologies piquing 
interest are data-driven digitized 
garbage collection from GreenQ, 
road noise cancellation technology 
from Silentium, and AlgoShield, a real-
time early-warning lithium battery hazard 
detection and explosion-prevention 
solution.
“We’re getting a lot of questions from 
cities like, ‘OK, if we’re going to be 
aggressively rolling out charging stations 
and electric vehicles on the road — General 
Motors is flipping over to all electric by 2035 
— how are we going to handle the worst 
cases, such as battery fires? How do we 
prepare for the future?’ Aside from making 
sure firefighters have the right technology 
and knowledge to work with a battery fire, 
the vehicle is going to have to take a major 
leap forward,
” Pawl said.
“If you’re focused on trying to make sure 
that America not just leads the world in 
producing technologies and vehicles, but 
also that it’s simply one of the best places to 
get around, I think Israel can help us find 
the way,
” he added.

TESTING GROUND FOR
ISRAELI TECHNOLOGIES
In his speech at EcoMotion, Pawl said that 
Michigan, which borders Canada, is a valu-
able testing site for Israeli businesses enter-
ing the North American market.
“We understand that there are other mar-
kets, like Silicon Valley, and places on the 
East Coast that have venture capital markets, 
but to really prove out your technology 
you’re going to want to actually get it out in 
communities,
” he said.
“You’re going to want world-class testing 
sites at the earlier stage, and once you’re 
past that point you’re going to want to work 
with a government that’s willing to give you 
access to their infrastructure and that has 
regulatory policies where you can move at 
the speed of the market and get permits 
quickly.
“So, while you may kick the tires at an 
automaker R&D lab in Silicon Valley, if 
you want to end up on a North American 
vehicle, you have to come through Detroit. 
And if you want to build a fleet, you’re going 
to have to access our supply chain,
” he said, 
noting that Detroit houses the lion’s share of 
U.S. automotive suppliers and automakers.
“This is paired with our commitment to, 
for instance, the Electreon project, opening 
up our infrastructure to help Electreon write 
their playbook in North America.
”
Michigan also has North America’s first 
smart parking lab and is constructing 
America’s first signature EV route along 
Lake Michigan. The U.S. and Canadian fed-
eral governments are seeking technologies to 
build better border crossings, Pawl said.
In addition, Michigan is building a 
40-mile autonomous vehicle lane between 
Detroit and Ann Arbor, “which will be 
essentially the road of the future and provide 
hundreds of other opportunities for Israeli 
companies to insert their technology.
” 

This article was first published by Israel21c.

JANUARY 26 • 2023 | 43

PHOTO COURTESY OF ECOMOTION

PHOTO COURTESY OF ZOOZ.

Trevor Pawl, chief 
mobility officer for the 
State of Michigan.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHIGAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION