Surging gas prices are all the rage, but that’s not the only thing taking Middle Tennessee roads by storm. If recent investments are any indication, electric and self-driving vehicles are here to stay and could alleviate some of the pressure at the pump.

⚡ Gone electric

Tennessee is becoming a hub for electric vehicle manufacturing. Spring Hill-based General Motors unveiled yesterday the new 2023 Cadillac Lyriq — the brand’s first all-electric vehicle. We can expect to see more news like this, as GM is investing $2 billion in local operations to jumpstart electric vehicle production + eliminate gas vehicles by 2040.

Nissan USA — with its North American headquarters based in Franklin — is no stranger to electric vehicles. The company has produced electric Nissan LEAF hatchbacks at its Smyrna plant for nearly a decade.

The above, combined with Ford’s future $5.6 billion electric manufacturing facility in West Tennessee + Volkswagen’s electric vehicle production in Chattanooga, it’s no surprise that Tennessee anticipates 200,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2028.

🚗 Betting big on self-driving cars

Nashville companies are testing the waters on self-driving cars — albeit not quite up to the same speed as electric vehicles.

Yesterday, Bridgestone Americas announced a minority investment in May Mobility — marking the company’s first investment in public-serving autonomous vehicles. The Michigan-based autonomous vehicle company plans to use Bridgestone’s tire technologies in future designs.
It’s possible you’ve even spotted a few self-driving vehicles. Ford and self-driving tech company Argo AI manually tested two cars in Nashville this month, though it’s not clear if the vehicles will ever undergo autonomous testing locally.

Meanwhile, TDOT and a group of Vanderbilt engineers recently launched I-24 Motion, a project that will study automated travel on a six-mile stretch of I-24. The overall goal is to create an environment outside of labs and closed-course settings to study how drivers and automated vehicles interact on the road — data that is sure to come in handy as this sector ramps up in Middle Tennessee.