DENVER — Colorado is moving full steam ahead on encouraging people to buy electric vehicles and building out the infrastructure to support them, despite the messaging from the new presidential administration.
Gov. Jared Polis and state leaders have celebrated the state leading the way when it comes to buying EVs.
In December the governor’s office shared this press release saying in part:
“Colorado has passed California to reach the highest EV market share of any state in the nation, according to Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM).”
Soon after, President Trump started announcing changes. While most recently the president said, he is buying a Tesla to show loyalty to the company's CEO Elon Musk.
Before that, the Trump administration started directing states to stop spending money on EV charging infrastructure. This was being built out using money allocated under the previous administration. Some experts are questioning if the president can do so.
However, Colorado state leaders say they are not slowing down.
WATCH: Colorado's plans for EVs under the current presidential administration
“Colorado is full steam ahead on EVs,” Executive Director of the Colorado Energy Office Will Toor said.
Toor said they are counting on some federal funding for some signed contracts.
“It certainly created a lot of uncertainty about what exactly is going to happen with those contracts,” Toors said. “But in the big picture, again, there's a lot of other funding coming from our electric utilities and coming from state funds that were created back in 2021. Through that, we will continue investing in EV infrastructure. So the infrastructure will get built there. There may be some hiccups in the near term.”
Over the course of a decade, about 10% of the investments into electric vehicle charging came from the federal government, according to Toor. The rest came from utilities and a transportation infrastructure package.
“So other states will be hurt more, because there's a lot of other states where it's kind of the only funding going into building out charging,” Toor said.
As for tax credits, right now the state said there is a $7,500 federal credit for many EVs and a range of state tax credits that can add up to $6,000.
These credits apply to both buying and leasing an electric vehicle.
“If you were buying an EV that had a retail price of around $35,000 you would end up paying more like $22,000 after the state and federal tax credits,” Toor said.
There is also a Vehicle Exchange Colorado program for lower-income Coloradans who have an older highly polluting car.
Toor said you can turn that in and get an additional $6,000 credit toward replacing that car with an electric vehicle.
The credits are structured so they can be transferred to the dealers, according to state leaders. That dealer can take the credit and you can get the reduction at the point of sale.
When asked if the federal government could pull the federal tax credit, Toor said that would require an act of Congress.
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New video shows the moment Pueblo Police were involved in a shoot-out Tuesday evening
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