Tennessee is pressing the accelerator on electric vehicles. On May 12, 2026, the state rolled out an updated EV roadmap that backs a new goal of supporting 750,000 light‑duty electric vehicles on the road by 2035. The plan, developed by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s Office of Energy Programs with Drive Electric Tennessee, builds on the state’s 2019 strategy and lays out next steps for charging buildout, fleet electrification, and battery reuse. It also highlights just how far there is to go: as of the end of 2025, Tennessee had about 68,600 plug‑in vehicles registered, a fraction of what the new target envisions.
What the 2026 roadmap covers
The 2026 roadmap widens the lens beyond personal cars to cover medium‑ and heavy‑duty vehicle electrification, large‑scale charging infrastructure, and what happens to batteries after their first life, including recycling and second‑life uses. It also looks at smart‑charging strategies and bidirectional charging that can feed power back to the grid. State officials cast the update as a coordinated playbook for utilities, manufacturers, local governments, and fleet operators, according to NewsChannel 5.
A bigger, longer-term target
The new roadmap swaps out Drive Electric Tennessee’s earlier benchmark of 200,000 light‑duty EVs by 2028 for a much loftier aim: 750,000 light‑duty EVs supported by 2035. That upgraded target was laid out in TDEC’s announcement, as reported by WSMV.
Where Tennessee stands now
Drive Electric Tennessee’s numbers show rapid gains but a long road ahead. At the end of 2025, the state counted about 68,603 plug‑in light‑duty vehicles, including roughly 54,915 battery‑electric vehicles and 15,855 plug‑in hybrids, according to Drive Electric Tennessee. The same data set tracks charging options across Tennessee, listing roughly 2,053 Level‑2 charging ports and 986 DC fast‑charging ports at the time of the latest update.
Charging, fleets, and the grid
The roadmap singles out corridor charging, fleet demonstration projects, and tight coordination with utilities as near‑term priorities. Tennessee has already begun expanding highway fast‑charging through efforts such as Fast Charge TN and planning under the federal NEVI program. TDEC and the Tennessee Valley Authority have been working together on corridor and utility planning, including a Fast Charge TN Network aimed at roughly 65 new charging locations. More information on those initiatives is available from the TDEC Office of Energy Programs at TDEC.
What it could mean for jobs and industry
State officials contend that Tennessee’s established automotive manufacturing sector and growing EV supply chain could help the state pull in more jobs and private investment as electrification scales up, a point emphasized in TDEC’s release highlighted by WSMV. Regional utility and energy planner TVA has been modeling higher EV‑adoption futures to get the grid ready, including scenarios with up to about 1 million EVs in the Tennessee Valley by 2035. Those projections underline how much grid and workforce planning is ahead; background is available through TVA’s EV initiative at TVA.
What to watch next
The roadmap is designed as a living document, so the real action will come in implementation. Key questions include how federal NEVI dollars and Volkswagen Settlement funds are allocated, whether the state or utilities roll out new incentives or rate structures, and when fleets decide to move from small pilots to larger conversions. For the full roadmap and detailed data, see Drive Electric Tennessee and the TDEC materials summarized by NewsChannel 5.
