News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Plans for electric vehicle infrastructure implementation across the state were presented to the Center Hill Rural Planning Organization’s Friday meeting. But, without plans for the Upper Cumberland in its first phase.
TDOT Region 2 Planning Supervisor Andrea Noel said that through the federal government’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Tennessee was allocated some $88 million to spend on electric vehicle infrastructure over the next five years. She said that the federal government asked states to designate the corridors they would spend the funds on.
“TDOT designated all of the two-digit corridors, the interstates along with U.S. 64,” Noel said. “Because we felt like there was that gap between the Chattanooga and Memphis area as well.”
Noel said that are planning for about 30 stations in the first phase at some $1 million a piece. She said that the remaining funding could be used in a possible phase 2 for secondary corridors, for example along Highway 111. She said that they could also use the remaining funding to put stations in key spots such as national parks.
Noel said that the state must submit its Electric Vehicle Deployment Plan by August 1st. She said that if the plan is not approved, the state could lose $17 million from the first year of funding.
“(With) Economic Development it’s here in Tennessee,” Noel said. “We have four car makers now that are setting up shop here and making electric vehicles, there are over 9,600 jobs and that’s just in Tennessee,” “EVs on the road, registered EVs when we pulled this data for 2021 said we had 16,902, I pulled the data two days ago we now have 18,400.”
Noel said that there will be a community meeting on Monday at the UCDD office to discuss electric vehicle development specifically in the Upper Cumberland and how that might look. For more information, call UCDD at 931-432-4111
