The conversations at MOVE America weren't about whether mobility transformation would happen. They were about how to make it profitable at scale.
After two days with 4,000 mobility leaders at Detroit's Huntington Place this September, one pattern emerged repeatedly: the industry has moved from "proof of concept" to "proof of profitability." Whether discussing autonomous shuttles, fleet electrification, or hydrogen infrastructure, executives were focused less on vision and more on unit economics, risk management, and operational resilience.
For embedded insurance, this shift changes everything.
Detroit's return as mobility's center
MOVE America's relocation from Austin to Detroit wasn't just about geography. The decision reflects where the mobility industry actually operates: in manufacturing facilities, fleet depots, and municipal transit systems where deployment happens at scale rather than in controlled pilots.
The event brought together 3,000-4,000 attendees across two days, with speakers from automotive OEMs, fleet operators, charge point operators, autonomous vehicle companies, battery manufacturers, and government officials. Topics centered on electrification, autonomous driving, software-defined vehicle technology, and policy, with executives from Stellantis, DHL Supply Chain, Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, Ford, GM, and Nvidia sharing insights.
What stood out was the shift from speculative discussions to practical deployment challenges. The conversations weren't about technology potential anymore. They were about warranty structures for electric commercial fleets, liability frameworks for autonomous operations, and protection products that make high-capital mobility investments financially viable.
Three embedded insurance implications from mobility's maturation
1. Fleet electrification creates protection complexity
Commercial fleet operators aren't just buying vehicles anymore. They're making 7-10 year capital commitments to electric powertrains, charging infrastructure, and route planning software with limited historical data on depreciation curves or maintenance costs.
Traditional vehicle protection products assume known failure modes and established parts pricing. Electric commercial vehicles operate under different stress patterns, with battery degradation dependent on charging behavior, route characteristics, and climate factors that current warranty structures struggle to price accurately.
This is where embedded insurance starts to look different than traditional coverage. When a fleet management platform already tracks vehicle utilization, charging patterns, and route optimization, the data exists to build usage-based protection that aligns coverage with real operating risk rather than actuarial assumptions borrowed from consumer vehicles. Several fleet operators mentioned frustration with protection products that don't acknowledge how differently commercial EVs age compared to internal combustion vehicles. The brands that figure out embedded protection calibrated to operational reality will have a meaningful competitive advantage in fleet retention.
2. Autonomous operations need new liability frameworks
May Mobility, headquartered in Ann Arbor, shared updates on their autonomous shuttle deployments in cities and campuses, emphasizing the shift toward real-world applications. Their focus on accessibility and equity creates insurance considerations that traditional commercial auto policies don't address well.
Autonomous vehicle liability sits between product liability (if the software fails), professional liability (if routing decisions cause harm), and traditional auto liability (for physical collisions). Fleet operators purchasing autonomous shuttle services need protection that covers this full spectrum without requiring three separate policies.
What makes sense in these scenarios is comprehensive mobility protection that travels with the service rather than requiring separate coverage for each risk category. When cities or campuses contract for autonomous shuttle services, they benefit from protection embedded in the service agreement that covers passenger liability, property damage, cyber risk, and operational downtime without forcing them to become insurance experts. This is exactly the kind of integration our platform was built to enable—where protection becomes part of the mobility service itself rather than a separate procurement hurdle.
Multiple conversations touched on insurance as a deployment barrier for autonomous services in new municipalities. The organizations that remove this friction through embedded protection will move faster than competitors still working through traditional insurance procurement processes.
3. Hydrogen infrastructure requires risk innovation
Hydrogen fuel cells gained serious attention at the conference, particularly for heavy-duty trucking and fleet operations, with companies like Pilot targeting 2027 for hydrogen fueling centers in California. The appeal includes long-range capability, fast refueling times, and the ability to power heavy payloads without massive batteries.
Hydrogen infrastructure investment requires protection products that don't exist yet. Traditional property insurance doesn't adequately price emerging fuel storage risks. Equipment breakdown coverage assumes known failure modes. Business interruption policies struggle with technologies where limited claims history makes loss projection difficult.
Early hydrogen infrastructure investors need protection structured around development milestones rather than static annual policies. As equipment moves from pilot to production to full deployment, coverage should adapt without requiring complete underwriting rework. This kind of flexible, evolving protection requires an insurance platform that can accommodate new risk categories and adjust coverage parameters as the technology matures—something traditional insurance product development cycles aren't designed to support.
Why embedded insurance matters more as mobility scales
The mobility transformation isn't failing. It's just getting expensive.
Fleet operators can't absorb unexpected battery replacement costs. Cities can't launch autonomous shuttle pilots if insurance procurement takes nine months. Hydrogen infrastructure investors can't wait for traditional insurance markets to develop appetite for emerging fuel technologies.
Every conversation at MOVE America reinforced that protection products need to operate at the speed of mobility innovation rather than at the pace of traditional insurance product development. The companies building embedded protection into mobility platforms rather than treating insurance as a separate procurement will have measurable deployment advantages.
What we learned in Detroit: mobility's future isn't just about better technology. It's about better risk management that enables technology adoption at scale. Embedded insurance becomes infrastructure rather than afterthought.
Want to explore embedded insurance opportunities in mobility?
We'd welcome a conversation about how protection products can support your fleet operations, autonomous deployments, or infrastructure investments. Contact our team to discuss what makes sense for your specific mobility business.
