Colorado to receive $56.5 million for EV chargers

By Elyse Apel
The Center Square

Colorado has officially secured nearly $60 million in federal funding for electric vehicle chargers.

The funding is part of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Grant program, which is a national initiative funded by the federal 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. It dedicated $5 billion to build a nationwide network of public EV charging stations.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis applauded the decision, approval of which has been uncertain in recent months.

“When I said we were going to be one of the leading states for electric vehicles, I meant it,” the Democratic governor said. “We were already working overtime to make it even more convenient for people to charge up by helping businesses build out a network of charging stations across the state, and this will continue to help us do even more of that.”

In total, Colorado will receive $56.5 million. This set of approved funding is the final round of funding, totalling $12 million. Polis said this will allow Colorado to complete an additional 100 fast-charging ports at “priority locations.”

The NEVI program is expected to fund 168 new fast charging ports at 29 locations across Colorado in multiple rounds, with the state itself investing $48 million through the first three rounds.

Though the program was first funded in 2021, it took years for Colorado to open any stations. Implementation of the NEVI program, which the Biden administration hoped would lead to 500,000 publicly available EV chargers by 2030, has been slow nationwide.

In Colorado, NEVI is just one part of a larger initiative from the government to push electric vehicle sales and infrastructure.

“It’s no coincidence that more than 80% of Colorado’s highway system is now within 30 miles of a fast-charging station, complementing the high number of EV sales in our state,” Polis said. “EVs are fun, save people money and improve our air quality.”

Much of that state backing is coming in the form of taxpayer funding. One of those is point-of-sale electric vehicle rebates, which were recently announced and reported on by The Center Square. Those came as Colorado jumped in to fill the gap as national incentives for electric vehicles ended under the Trump administration.

In August, the state also announced plans to invest another $5 million of its own money into electric chargers.

“We want Coloradans to be confident that if they buy an EV in Colorado, they can travel anywhere they want in this state,” said Shoshana Lew, director of the Colorado Department of Transportation. “By helping businesses strategically place charging stations in both urban centers and rural communities, Colorado is building the necessary infrastructure to support the traveling public.”

Vastly mitigating pollution is the goal for Colorado authorities. Part of reaching that goal includes 940,000 electric vehicles on Colorado roads by 2030. This comes even as market experts anticipate a coming decline in EV sales, as previously reported by The Center Square.

“With credits disappearing and shrinking, we expected a sharp downturn in these numbers,” said Colorado Automobile Dealers Association CEO Matthew Groves.

In the long term, Colorado hopes that light-duty electric vehicles will make up “nearly 100%” of the market share by 2050, according to its 2023 Electric Vehicle Plan.

Currently, the state has more than 200,000 registered EVs, according to Atlas Public Policy. That means, to meet the 2030 goal, the state would have to average 147,000 additional electric vehicles per year.

The state remains hopeful that it will meet that goal.

“With transportation as a leading source of pollution in Colorado, widespread EV adoption is essential to achieve our climate goals,” said Colorado Energy Office Executive Director Will Toor. “We are committed to ensuring EVs are affordable and that Coloradans can access charging to get where they need to go in an EV. Our work is paying off — it took 13 years to reach the first 100,000 EVs in Colorado and less than two years to double that.”