August 14, 2025 Program
The State of EVs
with Kent Minault

What’s the future for EV adoption in Tennessee? Are clean air tax credits still on? What about range anxiety, availability of charging stations, and affordability? Hear one of the state's leading EV ambassadors explain why he believes now could be the optimal time to buy an EV.

Kent Minault, who is a member of the Sierra Club Harvey Broome Group's Executive Committee, is an actor and teacher, now retired in Knoxville. Kent drives an EV and co-chairs Drive Electric Tennessee’s Infrastructure Working Group. His leadership with Sierra includes serving as conservation and political chair for the Harvey Broome Group, and chair of the state Chapter energy and transportation committee. Kent also works to support Global Warming/CAFÉ Standards.

Kent started out acting in San Francisco, where he organized the first Haight Ashbury Free Medical Clinic and worked as an actor/organizer for the SF Art Commission. He later taught English for the LA Unified School District, and it was in LA that Kent first volunteered with the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign. After victory getting LA off coal, he joined the LA County Electric Bus Coalition and within a year got LA Metro to transition to electric buses by 2030. He organized three EV events in Watts and helped found the Watts Clean Air Committee, installing rooftop solar and helping residents enter union apprenticeship programs.