Colorado Will Push Plan to Force EV Sales

Colorado says it will revive efforts to impose zero-emission targets for carmakers after talks with them stalled over ways to push EV sales voluntarily.

Gov. Jared Polis signed an executive order in January that directs Colorado to adopt California’s zero-emission-vehicle (ZEV) program. The state would join nine others who have already done the same: Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Carmakers favor a voluntary approach. But Colorado says it returned to its original plan after four weeks of talks failed to arrive at a viable alternative. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers tells Reuters it plans to continue discussions with the state anyway.

Under California’s complex system, carmakers must reach rising ZEV credit targets each year. They earn credits according to a formula involving the number and range of zero-emission vehicles they sell in the state.

The ZEV requirement, expressed as a percentage, is currently at 7%. That figure rises by 2.5 points each year to 22% by 2025. California has modified the math involved several times since the program began in 1990, mainly to reflect changes in emission control technologies.