On January 23, 2025, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), in partnership with the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), hosted a freight electrification planning workshop.

As Drive Electric TN works to refresh its Tennessee Roadmap for Electric Vehicles, the initiative plans to include new goals and projects related to medium- and heavy-duty vehicle electrification. Understanding that the stakeholders for freight electrification are distinct from school and transit bus stakeholders, this workshop focused exclusively on the freight sector.

A diverse group of stakeholders participated in the workshop, including state government; electric utilities and local power companies; trucking industry stakeholders, including dealers, fleets, and suppliers; local government; charging providers; charger repair and maintenance companies; national labs and Clean Cities Coalitions; higher education; and nonprofit subject matter experts.

At the event, key stakeholders were invited to discuss their freight electrification work to date, share their perspectives on key challenges and opportunities, and have their questions answered. TDEC and NASEO will be incorporating stakeholder feedback and priorities into the updated Roadmap, a draft of which will be shared for additional feedback later this year.

Following the workshop, participants networked at a reception at the nearby Rivian space, where a variety of electric freight vehicles were on display and available for test drives, including the Rivian Electric Delivery Van (EDV), a Bollinger B4 stakebed truck (provided by Nacarato Truck Centers), and an XOS SV05 step van (provided by Tennessee Tech University).

For more information on how to get involved with Tennessee’s freight electrification planning efforts, please contact Jessie Lund (jlund@naseo.org).