Colorado Politics

Colorado’s EV charging network expansion gets $12 million boost from federal grant

Colorado has secured the final portion of a federal grant to fund electric vehicle charging infrastructure expansion efforts, Gov. Jared Polis and the state’s Department of Transportation announced Thursday.

The final $12 million installment comes from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program, which has provided the state with over $25 million to support several hundred charging stations along its major highways. The funds are also expected to enable the installation of 100 additional fast-charging ports across the state through the Colorado Energy Office’s Direct Current Fast-Charging Plazas Grant Program.

“When I said we were going to be one of the leading states for electric vehicles, I meant it,” said Polis. “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. 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. EVs are fun, save people money, and improve our air quality.”

The funding is part of Colorado’s larger effort to expand its EV charging network, which currently includes nearly 6,500 charging ports statewide.

Colorado ranks first in the nation for electric vehicle adoption, with EVs accounting for a quarter of all new light-duty vehicles sold in the state so far this year.

“With transportation as a leading source of pollution in Colorado, widespread EV adoption is essential to achieve our climate goals,” said Will Toor, executive director of the Colorado Energy Office. “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.”


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