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.

July Monthly Meeting

July 11th, 11am-1pm 2026

Hey everyone,

We will be trying out a new meeting space for our July meeting. We will be meeting on Saturday July 11th at 11am. The meeting will be at the Knoxville Public Works building (3131 Morris Ave, Knoxville, TN 37909) that has a large meeting room. Hopefully we can start using this location as a good meeting location for us. This is the building that has the large solar farm you see from the interstate. This location also has several L2 chargers. Let’s see how we like it. We will have a quick summary on the success of last months EVs in the Smokies and then discuss several of the biggest EV news items and will also be discussing our plans for the rest of the year as we have some great guest speakers lined up for August and September meetings that leads into our biggest event of the year, the Knoxville Drive Electric Festival on October 10th. And as always bring us your EV questions.

  • Meeting Agenda
  • Introduction of new members, did any get an EV recently?
  • Report of previous month events
    • 6th annual EVs in the Smokies
    • Very successful 50 vehicles and 74 test drives/rides
    • Met our grant requirement, thanks everyone that helped and showed up!
  • House bill BUILD America 250 Act (H.R. 8870)
    • institutes a federal EV registration fee each year
    • $130 for EVs and $35 for Plugin-Hybrids
    • In 2029 the fees increase $5 every two years until they reach $150 and $50 respectively.
    • How will this impact TN that already has a $200 EV fee, soon to be $274 on Jan 1st 2027?!?
    • Will TN remove their fee or will we be stuck paying $404 a year?
    • No where near fair or equivalent to gas tax fees.
  • New DCFC chargers in the area
    • The Local Market Gas Stations 300 Callahan Dr.
      • 2 CCS1, ChargePoint each 62KW but if only one in use supposedly combines for 125KW.
    • Pilot Travel Center Strawberry Plains Pike
      • 4 CCS1 GM Energy 350KW
    • Target on Washington Pike
      • Coming Soon by Electrify America 
  • Dolly Parton opens Buc-ees competitor Dolly’s Tennessee Travel Center
    • 3686 Pulaski Hwy, Cornersville, TN 37047
    • 24 Tesla Superchargers
    • Live music stage, Cup of Ambition Coffee and Cinnamon Bread Milkshakes!
  • Summer Harper Cars and Coffee at West Town Mall
    • August 2nd, 8am-11am (be parked with us by 6:30)
    • Spring one had a lot of crazy energy
    • additional details will be sent out in email later
  • Good deals on Used EVs
    • 1.2 million EVs coming off lease in next 18 months
    • 40% of EVs on dealer lots are below $25k
    • Average used EV only $1,000 more than gas car
  • Polestar banned from sale in the US
    • How are the Polestar owners feeling?
  • August 8th Monthly Meeting
    • Cedar Bluff Library 11am
    • Guest Speaker: Dr. Knowles gives us the results of his EV survey
    • Possible additional speaker
  • September 19th Monthly Meeting (3rd Saturday)
    • Back at Public Works building 11am
    • Guest speaker: Knoxville Sustainability Manager Patience Melnik
    • Shares with us the latest updates on EV infrastructure plans, the city EV fleet etc.
  • Other EV News
    • Chargepoint to install 2,500 chargers in multifamily housing in US
    • Stellantis says 29 EV models by 2030 (in presentation to stockholders)
    • Walmart charger network surpasses 300, initiating charging via the Walmart app will save you 10%
    • GM Energy Pass to be one universal interface for public charging
    • May 2026 solar out supplied coal for the first time in the US mixture, 12.8% to 12.2%
    • way way more news to share

Meeting date and time: Saturday July 11th 11am-1pm

Meeting location: Knoxville Public Works Service Center 3131 Morris Ave, Knoxville, TN 37909

Summer Cars and Coffee

August 2nd, 8am-11am (be parked by 6:30am) West Town Mall

More details to come stay tuned.

August Monthly Meeting

August 8th, 11am-1pm Cedar Bluff Library

Join us for Dr. Knowles as he breaks down his EV survey and what all that data means. Stay tuned as we get more plans flushed out for additional speakers.

September Monthly Meeting

September 19th, 11am-1pm Knoxville Public Works Service Center

Our guest speaker will be Patience Melnik Knoxville Sustainability Manager, she will tell us all about the latest updates of what the city has planned and how things are already going. We look forward to hearing about any updates on EV infrastructure.  Check back as we plan more detailed agenda.

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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