How Tennessee can become a hub for transportation innovation
Tennessee currently supports 40 percent of the EV manufacturing jobs and investments in the southeast, but ranks 41st in the country for industrial R&D.
As transportation evolves, and the focus on car travel shifts from the combustion engine to the electric battery, Tennessee is already a key player in the world of manufacturing. Ford, GM, Nissan, and Volkswagen all have manufacturing locations across the state, with people ready to work at their plants.
What Tennessee is not leading in is automotive research and development (R&D). If the state wants to attract, train, and then keep talent in the automotive world, a shift in priorities when it comes to workforce development and research transfer may be the key.
That’s according to Kevin Heaslip, the new Director of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Center for Transportation Research (UTK CTR). In a lecture at the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy Thursday, Heaslip walked through the current and hopeful future mobility ecosystem in Tennessee.