Colorado Proposes Generous Electric Vehicle Incentives For New Buyers

The state appears to lead the charge in EV incentives alongside California.

Updated: Aug 10, 2023 at 5:00pm ET

Colorado could soon compete with California for maximum incentives offered on electric vehicle purchases. A new report indicates that Colorado EV buyers can save thousands of dollars on new and used EV purchases.

Governor Jared Polis’ administration aims to add nearly one million light-duty EVs on Colorado’s streets by the end of the decade, a significant increase from the current 86,000 odd EVs plying on its roads, reported Colorado Public Radio News.

To meet this ambitious target, buyers would need to begin adopting zero-emissions vehicles in the coming years, something the government plans to encourage with generous rebates.

Some of those incentives include a $5,000 state tax credit for vehicles purchased or leased after July 1, 2023. Then you have an additional $2,500 low-cost EV tax credit available from January 2024 onwards.

Buyers can also exchange their vehicles for up to $6,000, and gain $5,500 in rebates from the electric utility and natural gas company from Xcel Energy. And of course, the $7,500 federal tax credit which is available nationwide.

A previous version of this article stated that Colorado residents could combine all of the aforementioned incentives for a total of $26,500 in savings, but that's not the case. The Colorado Energy Office told InsideEVs that "given the various requirements and limitations of each of these incentives, one individual would not currently be able to take advantage of all these incentives at once."

The low-cost EV tax credit is applicable to cars priced under $35,000 – and only a handful of options are available currently, including the soon-to-be-discontinued Chevrolet Bolt EV (although its successor is in the works), Nissan Leaf, Hyundai Kona Electric, and the Mini Cooper SE, among others. However, most of these do not qualify for the federal tax credit due to the critical minerals requirement.

The state is also offering credits of up to $12,000 for hybrid and pure electric trucks. To qualify, the commercial vehicles must be new, registered in Colorado, have a battery capacity of at least four kilowatt-hours, and have a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of over 8,500 pounds. Even the likes of the Hummer EV could qualify for this credit, given its GVWR of over 9,000 pounds.

The $5,000 state tax credit isn’t new and has been around since 2018, but the additional incentives appear relatively new, which EV buyers can combine to obtain substantial savings.

If you’re a Colorado resident, check out the eligibility requirements, which are pretty comprehensive for each program. Here are the maximum incentives and some useful resources to look at: