Detroit City Challenge

Detroit City Challenge

The Sustainable Cities Challenge Detroit

Since launching in May 2024, we have been looking for innovators to:

Demonstrate solutions that reduce fossil fuel use and cut costs of freight operations in Eastern Market

Solutions needed to address one or more of the following:

  1. Reduce idling time
  2. Reduce partial loads and empty miles
  3. Reduce reliance on fossil fuel for cold chain logistics and freight management
  4. Reduce implementation costs and barriers to adopting clean freight technologies

Entries for this challenge are now closed. Finalists have now been selected by our judging panel. Find out more and meet the teams below.

 

Why Detroit’s Eastern Market?

Detroit’s Eastern Market is the largest open-air market and amongst the oldest historic markets in the U.S. and is at the heart of Detroit’s Challenge. It is the city’s hub for food distribution, selling over $360 million of wholesale food annually, and double that in exports. The district is poised to expand and is considering strategies to address environmental concerns, carbon emissions, and pollution, while adding residential units to this bustling community. It organises farmers, wholesalers, distributors, and logistics operators into distribution activities designed to move food that feeds millions.

Eastern Market neighbourhood is continuing to expand as a market and as a mixed-use district. A key challenge of its growth strategy is to harmonise food production and distribution increases with clean freight initiatives.

This will safeguard the health of Eastern Market residents, workers, and visitors while reducing fossil fuel costs of freight operators.

Image of a road in Detroit.

Watch this to learn more about the Detroit City Challenge

Who are the finalists?

Civilized Cycles Logo

Civilized Cycles

Civilized Cycles is a Detroit-based design and engineering firm that builds light electric vehicles for commercial cargo transportation.

electric fish logo

ElectricFish

ElectricFish is an all-minority founded company building energy infrastructure to accelerate a resilient EV transition. It offers innovative energy solutions focused on fast-charging infrastructure and energy optimisation.

Neology Logo

Neology

Neology is a Swiss clean-tech startup advancing sustainable energy with its Ammonia-to-Hydrogen Generation System (AHGS). This is done through converting ammonia into pure hydrogen, which is then used in ​fuel cells. ​

Orange sparkle ball logo

Orange Sparkle Ball

Orange Sparkle Ball is an innovation accelerator focused on advancing community initiatives through technology, human-centered design, and data-driven pilots.

The judges

Meet our expert panel of judges for the Detroit Challenge: Transforming Freight. These leaders in freight, mobility, and sustainability will be evaluating solutions designed to reduce fossil fuel consumption and lower operational costs in Detroit’s iconic Eastern Market. Their expertise will guide the selection of innovations that can make freight logistics cleaner, more efficient, and sustainable for all.

Dave Schaller SCC Detroit Judge

Dave Schaller

Dave is the Industry Engagement Director for NACFE, responsible for fleet and supplier engagement, workshops, and social media. He manages Run on Less demonstrations and holds degrees in Electrical Engineering and an MBA. With 27 years at Navistar, he worked in design, research, strategic planning, and marketing, gaining insights across five countries. Dave has five US patents, authored SAE papers, and has published numerous NACFE reports.

LinkedIn

Justine Johnson SCC Detroit Judge

Justine Johnson

Justine is an accomplished mobility executive with more than 10 years of experience in external affairs, strategy and government and community relations. As Chief Mobility Officer for the state of Michigan, she leads the state’s Office of Future Mobility and Electrification (OFME) in working across state government, academia and private industry to enhance Michigan’s mobility ecosystem, including developing dynamic mobility policies and supporting emerging mobility technologies and businesses.

LinkedIn

Parth Vaishnav SCC Detroit Judge

Parth Vaishnav

Parth is an Assistant Professor of Sustainable Systems at the University of Michigan. His research aims to understand how technology can ameliorate the environmental and human health consequences of energy production and use, promoting energy and environmental justice. He holds a PhD in Engineering & Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University, and an MPhil in Technology Policy from Cambridge University.

LinkedIn

Timeline

Wednesday 29 May
Detroit City Challenge launches
Thursday 12 September
Entries close
Tuesday 26 November
Semi-finalist announcement
Friday 20 June
Finalist announcement
Early 2026
Winners’ announcement
  • 2024
  • 2024
  • 2024
  • 2025
  • 2026

Partners

  • Toyota Mobility Foundation logo
  • World Resources Institute
  • Challenge Works - a Nesta enterprise
  • 89 up logo
  • city of Venice logo
  • Untitled design (5)
  • Untitled design (4)

Find out more

To discover more about the Sustainable Cities Challenge Detroit and meet the finalist teams, as well as the previous semi-finalists teams, head to the dedicated website by clicking the link below.

Sustainable Cities Challenge Detroit

 

Learn about the other city challenges

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