STATE, AUTO INDUSTRY FORM EMISSIONS PLAN
Agreement aims to get more electric cars on the road faster.
State agencies and automobile manufacturers announced an agreement Monday on a proposal intended to get more electric vehicles on Colorado roads faster.
State officials, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and Global Automakers will submit their joint proposal to the state Air Quality Control Commission, which will hold hearings starting Aug. 13 on a zero-emission vehicle rule.
The proposed rule is based on California’s, which requires that a certain percentage of vehicles for sale in the state be electric. The Air Quality Control Commission will make the final decision on adopting California’s standard.
Earlier this year, state officials and the auto groups started talking about alternative proposals, including making the Colorado program voluntary rather than mandatory. In June, state officials said they would concentrate on developing a mandatory standard after failing to reach a consensus.
However, talks continued. The result is a proposal providing an incentive for auto manufacturers to start offering more electric vehicles for sale in Colorado earlier than would be required under a new state regulation, said Will Toor, executive director of the Colorado Energy Office.
That means manufacturers could start accumulating credits for offering electric vehicles earlier and Colorado car buyers could have more choices as early as 2020, said Toor and Shoshana Lew, executive director of the Colorado Department of Transportation.
“Coloradans’ travel needs are as diverse as our landscape, and it is important that consumers have a broad range of highly energy-efficient options when selecting a vehicle,” Lew said in a statement.
Colorado consumers can expect to see more electrified vehicles on the roads sooner as a result of the collaboration between the state and automakers, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and Global Automakers said in a joint statement.
“Automakers are building more electric models while Colorado is investing in market conditions that encourage consumers to buy them, so we have developed a way to work together on our shared goal of getting more electric vehicles on Colorado roads,”
the industry groups said.
If Colorado approves a rule based on California’s program, a certain amount of manufacturers’ vehicles sold in the state would have to be electric, likely between 6 percent and 10 percent, starting with the 2023 model year. But the proposal announced Monday is aimed at speeding up sales of electric vehicles and providing a transition for automakers by allowing them to start building up their credits sooner under the federal Clean Air Act.
California is the only state that has a federal waiver to impose its own vehicle fuel standards. States without waivers can approve their own standards as long as they’re based on California’s. Toor said there is flexibility under the Clean Air Act for the kind of plan the state and automakers are proposing.
Cutting climate-changing emissions by increasing the percentage of electric vehicles on Colorado roads is a priority of Gov. Jared Polis’ administration. One of Polis’ first actions after taking office in January was to sign an executive order reaffirming the state’s commitment to get more electric vehicles on the road.
Polis has also set a goal of powering Colorado’s electric grid from 100 percent renewable energy sources by 2040, which would further cut vehicle emissions.
New Colorado laws intended to increase the number of electric vehicles include the extension of state tax credits to buy or lease an electric vehicle and allowing investorowned utilities to own and operate charging stations.
The Colorado Automobile Dealers Association has said the zero-emission standard will drive up prices and limit buyers’ choices because more than 70 percent of the vehicles sold in the state are sports utility vehicles and trucks. The association sued over the state’s approval in 2018 of a rule boosting vehicle fuel standards, but a district court judge dismissed the lawsuit in early July.