The Knoxville Electric Vehicle Association (KEVA) is Knoxville’s leading non-profit dedicated to educating the public on the benefits of driving electric. Functioning as a regional chapter of the Electric Vehicle Association since 2010. Our monthly meetings and events are great places to come talk to daily EV drivers and have your questions answered as well as a community for EV enthusiasts. If you have never driven an EV we would love the opportunity to put you in the driver’s seat at any of our meetings or various events.

KEVA monthly meetings are the second Saturday of every month, usually at 11:00 AM at Carl Cowan Park on Northshore Drive.  The meeting location may occasionally change due to weather or other issues.  Information is posted to the KEVA website and KEVA FB group. Bring a chair and join the discussions. 

Partners

The Electric Vehicle Association (EAA) is a network of EV enthusiasts and “North America’s leading nonprofit that accelerates the adoption of electric vehicles by supporting its 100 chapters and thousands of members as they talk neighbor-to-neighbor in their communities about the benefits of driving electric.” The EVA is our parent organization and we are one of two official chapters in Tennessee (along side the Chattanooga chapter). As KEVA – the Knoxville EV Association – we have been around since forming in 2005 and worked since inception to positively impact citizens in the greater Knoxville community to educate them about the benefits of driving electric.

ETCF + state 3 logos

The East Tennessee Clean Fuels Coalition (ETCleanFuels) is one of roughly 90 U.S. DOE “Clean Cities” Programs across the country and serves the eastern half of Tennessee. ETCleanFuels works in partnership with the other in-state program – the Middle-West TN Clean Fuels Coalition – to serve fleets, partners and other entities with services related to education, outreach and implementation of alternative fuels in vehicles. ETCleanFuels has been working with KEVA for over a decade to plan and hold EV “Ride & Drives” and work on EV outreach throughout the region.

DET logo
  • The Drive Electric TN (DET) initiative was born in 2014 by ETCleanFuels to build out educational work to Tennessee citizens on EVs, and work on the Tennessee Workplace Charging Program. In 2017, TVA made a commitment to massively boost the effort and funded several types of work that involved over 100 different people from across Tennessee and beyond to develop the Tennessee EV Roadmap and other outputs to help us have good data. Since then, three “Working Groups” were started and have developed over 10 task forces or committees to work on specific barrier-removing actions to assist Tennessee in growing the number of EVs in our roads from roughly 10,000 at the start of 2020 to 200,000 by the end of 2028.

Current Upcoming Events

Upcoming EVents

Here’s a quick snapshot of what we have going on in the next few months.

May Monthly Meeting

May 10th, 11am  UT Research Park

Hey everyone, 

We will be having our monthly meeting this Saturday May 10th, at UT Research Park at 11am. We have a lot of EV news to discuss at this meeting. We have moved EVs in the Smokies to May 31st. Bring your EV to hang out with us and have a fun day in the Smoky Mountains! We are responding to everyone that told us July was way too hot to have a meetup in the Smokies so we hope that May will offer us more enjoyable temperatures.
Meeting Agenda
  • Member introductions, meet new members, any get a new EV?
  • Report on Previous Month EVents
    • UTK Ride and Drive — Jonathan
    • Paws for the Cause — Jake and Nicole
    • Dogwood Arts Festival — Eric
    • Other area events
  • Featured EV
    • Come see Eric’s New 2025 Cadillac Optiq (He finally upgraded!)
  • EVs in the Smokies (EVITS)
    • May 31st, Noon-4pm, Townsend, TN
    • Peaceful Side Social — a local restaurant and brewery
    • Several EVs available for Ride and Drives
    • Bring family and friends that want to try out EVs!
    • Bring your EV to show and hang out with fellow EV drivers, play some lawn games!
    • https://driveelectricearthmonth.org/event?eventid=4804
  • IONNA Charger Network
    • Who is IONNA, Where are they?
    • What’s a Rechargery?
    • 30,000 chargers by 2030
    • (Please how do we get one here?)
    • https://www.ionna.com/
  • Walmart Starts Own EV Charging Network
    • No not EA, Walmart tired of losing easy money to EA starts own charger build out
    • 400kw DC fast chargers, NACS and CCS
    • uses standard Walmart app
  • Slate Truck announced
    • $20,000 piecemeal EV truck a good idea?
    • Hottest topic we heard at Dogwood festival
    • Who got reservations?
    • https://www.slate.auto/
  • Federal EV Tax Bill in Congress
    • Bill advanced that tries to federally recoup road taxes
    • $250 for EVs and $100 hybrids
    • This could possibly be on top of already heavy state registration fees!
  • More EV News
    • New 3 row 615hp Cadillac Vistiq is now on the lot at Cadillac Knoxville
    • CATL new battery, 930 mile range, 320 miles in 5 minutes charging!
    • 2025 Kia EV6 has upgraded battery and NACs connector
    • Aurora’s Fully driverless big rigs on the roads between Dallas and Houston
    • Blazer SS, Optiq-V, Lyriq-V announced with 0-60 in 3.3 seconds!

Meeting date and time: Saturday May 10th, 11:00am

Meeting location: Institute for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing (IAMM) Building located at 2641 Osprey Vista Way, Knoxville, TN 37920.  Room 147 on the 1st floor.

EVs in the Smokies!

May 31st, 2025 12-4pm

EVs In The Smokies is like a family gathering that includes an Electric Vehicle show and a Ride & Drive.  Come  see the latest in electric vehicles (EVs), get answers to your questions from people who own them, and if you want, ride in or drive an EV (or more than one). A list of the registered vehicles can be found on our event page here https://driveelectricearthmonth.org/event?eventid=4804

Townsend, Tennessee, is known as the Peaceful Side of the Smokies.  It’s less crowded and more relaxing than other places near entrances to the Great Smoky Mountains. What better place to show people what it’s like to drive in silence without emitting fumes? The Knoxville Electric Vehicle Association (KEVA) and Drive Electric Tennessee (DET) invite you to join us for the fifth annual EVs In The Smokies. We’ll be at the Peaceful Side Social , in Townsend on Saturday, May 31, 2025, from Noon to 4:00pm, showing a large range of Electric Vehicles (EVs). It’s right on Lamar Alexander Parkway, just minutes away from the quietest entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Peaceful Side Social has great food, and its own ice creamery for your enjoyment. We will have some tents to relax under and games to play as well.

More updates and info to come, hope to see you there! If you would like to show off your EV please register at the event link above so that we can add it to the list of EVs that will be showing up. 

Photos from last year’s event are here courtesy of East Tennessee Clean Fuels:  2024 EVITS Photos.

KEVA would like to thank our partners who make this possible. You can find links to their websites on the KEVA Sponsor Page.

Our Staple Yearly Big Events

Drive Electric Earth Day (DEED) is a national campaign to share information about electric vehicles throughout the month of April. In addition to being better for the environment, electric vehicles are more fun to drive, more convenient to fuel and less expensive to operate than gasoline vehicles. Attend an online event to experience driving electric!

  • National Drive Electric Week (NDEW) is a nationwide celebration to raise awareness of the many benefits of all-electric and plug-in hybrid cars, trucks, motorcycles, and more.  Hundreds of events are held each year, with many in-person events offering the opportunity to talk with EV owners, and to ride in or drive a variety of EVs.  NDEW usually takes place in late September, check the website for current dates.  Nationally, NDEW is sponsored by Plug In America, Nissan, and the Electric Auto Association.

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