The Project & Team

In early 2020, staff from East Tennessee Clean Fuels (ETCF) and Clean Fuels Ohio (CFO) opined, “what if we could get a significant number of largely flyover states together to share in developing plans for building effective Drive Electric programs in all our states?” That question turned into the DRIVE Electric USA proposal that was selected and awarded by the US Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Office in summer 2020.

The project runs from October 2020 through December 2023 and is comprised of a group of diverse stakeholders, including Clean Cities Coalitions from fourteen states, electric vehicle and EVSE OEMs, and other committed partners who are dedicated to raising awareness and adoption of EVs across the United States. We will use our states as great and dissimilar examples of how to successfully build statewide, successful EV efforts to drive the purchase and use of EVs of all sizes and by general citizens and fleets.

In order to accomplish this goal, project leaders and implementers will educate consumers, utilities, utility regulators, and government officials while engaging auto dealers and fleet leaders, conducting EV infrastructure planning, and developing local EV chapters. All of this will occur under the banner of each branded, statewide EV initiative which will be guided by that state’s stakeholders.

The DRIVE Electric USA project will create a replication playbook based on outputs and lessons learned and build successful long-term continuation through funding and partnerships. Additionally, a 35-company Project Advisory Committee (PAC) will provide input and guide the coalitions and their statewide efforts to break down barriers as quickly as we can towards accelerating EV adoption in our states.

In September 2021, we began allowing other states to start joining our monthly conversations, towards an end that would be additional funding to allow them the same opportunities to develop statewide partnerships and work on all of the Priority Areas that are shown below. Numerous states joined in and we are excited about seeking new funding in late 2022 to them start driving their state EV initiatives! Expect to continue seeing the above map grow as more states join the effort to Drive Electric!

Of the Clean Cities coalitions that are partners in our project states… 10 partner coalitions are led by Clean Cities Hall of Fame inductees, and thirteen coalition’s leaders have been operating their coalitions for 10 years or more. Learn more about our statewide initiatives and who is leading each state’s efforts in the boxes below.

We appreciate the DOE and its Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy for selecting our project and allowing us to build such a collaborative opportunity. We look forward to showing you our achievements and advancements over the coming years!