Governor praises EV charger program, first station to open in 2025

Three years after the program was first approved, Colorado announced plans to open its first electric vehicle charging station as a part of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Grant program in 2025.

“Colorado is making it easier than ever to drive an electric vehicle,” said Gov. Jared Polis. “With additional federal support, we’re continuing to grow Colorado’s network of EV chargers and ensure drivers have a reliable and affordable place to charge around our state.”

The state is set to receive $57 million in federal monies from NEVI through 2026, all meant to fund the installation of public electric vehicle charging stations across the state.

The NEVI program is a national initiative funded by the federal 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and dedicates $5 billion to build a nationwide network of public EV charging stations.

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

“The ongoing state and federal investment through this program will have a huge impact on access to charging in Colorado, ensuring that the hundreds of thousands of Coloradans who are switching to electric cars can easily get where they need to go, while also saving money on fuel and maintenance costs,” said Will Toor, Colorado Energy Office executive director.

This program is part of a broader plan by the state to move towards electric vehicles.

Longterm, the state hopes that light-duty electric vehicles will make up “nearly 100%” of the market share by 2050.

“The state envisions the large-scale transition of Colorado’s transportation system to zero emission vehicles,” said Colorado’s 2023 Electric Vehicle Plan.

This includes 940,000 electric vehicles on Colorado roads by 2030. While the state says the ability to meet that goal has “never been better,” it currently has “more than 161,000 EVs on Colorado roads.”

To meet the 2030 goal, the state would have to average 156,000 additional electric vehicles per year. In the third quarter of 2024, EVs made up 25.3% of new car sales.

According to a press release, Polis “led the charge” for the NEVI program.

The state anticipates the first of the NEVI-funded fast chargers from previous funding rounds to open in early 2025, while chargers supported by the current funding round could become available starting in late 2025.

So far, the NEVI program has seen only 40 charging stations opened up across the country, with 849 conditionally awarded. That means each charging port cost approximately $163,5000 to install, according to NEVI.

“These are only the first handful though. Most are to be built in the second half of the decade,” said Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg in response to backlash over the program.