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A driving electric vehicle leadership conference was held Thursday morning, at Walters State Community College’s Public Safety building.

Several state and local community leaders attended to learn more about the positives of using electric vehicles.

Jonathan Overly, CEO of ETCleanFuels and Jennifer Kidd, ETClean Fuels project coordinator, discussed with the group the barriers to electrification in the community.

Lizzy Gaviria, Grants Analyst with the TN Department of Environment and Conservation provided information on several grants communities can apply for to aid in incorporating electric vehicles.

“TN Department of Environment oversees several initiatives and programs, but probably the oldest stems from the Volkswagen Settlement which found the company was cheating emissions tests. From that settlement we received $45,759,914,” Gaviria said. “With those funds we have used it to replace older diesel vehicles to reduce emissions.

“The things we do fall in these categories include: school buses, transit and shuttle buses, medium and large trucks and also building EV charging structures.

“Approximately 61% of those allocation has been used and we have around $16 million in the funding pot remaining and the hope is to release another vehicle round for all of those categories.”

Gaviria then began to discuss the Reducing Diesel Emissions for a Healthier Tennessee (RDE4HT) under the EPA’s Diesel Emissions Reduction Act.

“Much like the Volkswagen program this is a replacement initiative,” she said.

The program happens annually and has an emphasis on all electric projects. The next application cycle for this program is expected to open in late 2023.

The EPA Clean School Bus Grant Program provides funding to replace existing school buses with zero-emission or low emission models, Gaviria said.

“It’s funding for the next five years through 2026 and they currently have their grant program applications open,” she said.

She explained that the TDEC is using some of the Volkswagen funds to give to applicants of the program.

“We are going to provide $25,000 for up to 10 buses so $250,000 for prioritized school districts and then $10,000 for up to 10 buses for other interested parties. Applications for that are due in August of this year.”

Chris Boehm, Electric analyst for Tennessee Valley Authority, discussed the history of the TVA and how it is connected to the EVs.

“Many people may ask why the TVA cares about electric vehicles,” he said. “The TVA was created in the 1930s to help with flood mitigation as well as to enable energy, environment and economic development for those in the Tennessee Valley Region.

“So initially we helped farmers with fertilizers and then in the 40s we helped folks electrify their homes. In the 50s and 60s we helped with heat and air. We have seen economic growth throughout our time as TVA and electric vehicles are just another step in that direction.”

Boehm explained the TVA’s goal with EVs and what to expect in the next 12 years.

“Our goal in partnership with TDEC and other state agencies is to have 200,000 EVs in the Tennessee Valley region by 2028,” he said. “That is just 2% of the vehicles on the road and that accounts for .05% of the total electric grid of the TVA. A vast majority is off peak and it is a super low amount of energy as far as the TVA is concerned.”

“If we look in the 2035 range we are looking at about 750,000 EVs on the grid and that will still account for less than 2% of the total grid on our load system. That is something we should think about but like I said we grew along with the market back in the 60s and 70s with electrification of air conditioning and we are looking at that today as well.”

Boehm explained the benefits of EV’s to the environment and to the local economy.

“The 200,000 EVs is about 1 million metric tons of C02 saved per year which also benefits local economies,” he said. “There is about $12 billion invested by automakers to produce vehicles in the area.”

Following the program, the group went out to test drive several different electric vehicles on the WSCC test track.