Projects & Inititave Background
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 U.S. DOE in summer 2020. That project is comprised of a wide variety of stakeholders, including Clean Cities Coalitions from fourteen states and a diverse set of other committed partners who are dedicated to raising awareness and adoption of EVs in their states. We will use our states as great and dissimilar examples of how to successfully build statewide, successful efforts to accelerate the purchase and use of EVs of all sizes by general citizens and fleets.
Fast forward to 2023 where we have secured additional funding to create the “DEUSA2” project that will add another 12 states and the District of Columbia to the original 14 – new total of 27. The new states will undertake tasks to drive engagement across our Priority Areas (our pillars of barrier busting) and towards developing statewide, branded initiatives that will drive EV outreach, education, and adoption.
In order to accomplish this entity-development goal, project leaders and implementers have been and will educate consumers, utilities, utility regulators, and government officials; engage auto dealers and fleet leaders; conduct EV infrastructure planning; and develop local EV chapters. Please visit the “Priority Areas” (PAs) menu to access info about all of the PAs as well as specific pages related to each PA. All of this is and will occur in each state (or DC) under the banner of a statewide EV initiative, which will be guided by that state’s stakeholders.
The first DRIVE Electric USA project is right now creating a Replication Playbook – based on outputs and lessons learned – and is developing successful, long-term continuation funding and partnerships. In the first project, a 35-company Project Advisory Committee (PAC) provided valuable input and guided the coalitions and their statewide efforts to accelerate the barrier-busting efforts.
