Click here to read the report. Here’s the Executive Summary:
In 2018, Colorado released its first electric vehicle (EV) plan,1 setting forth goals, actions and strategies to develop EV fast-charging corridors across the state and establishing a target of 940,000 EVs by 2030. The state has seen significant achievements in the two years since the plan’s release, including:
Award of a contract to ChargePoint for the build-out of EV fast-charging stations at 33 sites along Colorado’s major transportation corridors; State investment to install 351 EV chargers across Colorado; Adoption of a zero emission vehicle (ZEV) standard in August 2019 with the support of the auto manufacturing industry; Dedication of all remaining state Volkswagen diesel settlement funds to ZEV charging infrastructure and zero emission buses, shuttles and trucks including first round grant awards totaling $13.9 million to six transit agencies for 23 battery electric buses and supporting infrastructure— with a second round of awards to be announced in spring 2020; and More than doubling the number of EVs registered in Colorado from 11,238 in August 2017 to over 24,000 in June 2019. Despite these achievements, more needs to be done. Environmental impacts from the transportation sector— and the resulting health and economic consequences— are a major concern. Greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles will soon be the top source of emissions in Colorado and a significant portion of the state is classified as an ozone non-attainment area by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Transportation is one of the two largest sources of ozone precursors along with oil and gas production, and reducing transportation emissions is a critical strategy to meet federal health-based air quality standards.
The vision for the Colorado Electric Vehicle Plan 2020 is: Large-scale transition of Colorado’s transportation system to zero emission vehicles, with a long-term goal of 100% of light-duty vehicles being electric and 100% of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles being zero emission.
This will be accomplished by taking actions to meet five goals:
Increasing the number of light-duty EVs to 940,000 by 2030; Developing plans for transitioning medium-duty (MDV), heavy-duty (HDV) and transit vehicles to ZEVs; Developing an EV infrastructure goal by undertaking a gap analysis to identify the type and number of charging stations needed across the state to meet 2030 light-duty vehicle (LDV), MDV and HDV goals; State government agencies meeting directives and goals related to EVs from the updated Greening State Government Executive Order; and Developing a roadmap to full electrification of the light-duty vehicle fleet in Colorado