Colorado now third in nation on electric vehicle ranking index

The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) recently issued the following press release on Colorado climbing to third in the nation in transportation-sector electrification:

Colorado now ranks third in the nation in progress toward electrification of its transportation sector, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy’s “2023 Transportation Electrification Scorecard.”

Previously, ACEEE had ranked Colorado fifth on its index of states’ electrification progress. But the Centennial State moved up two spots, just behind New York at No. 2 and California at No. 1 in the rankings. ACEEE’s scorecard considers a variety of factors, including deployment of light- and heavy-duty electric vehicles and the building of charging infrastructure for EVs.

“The state that improved its overall score the most was Colorado, which increased its score from 48 to 61 points and now ranks third,” ACEEE said in a statement. “It improved in almost all policy categories . . . with particular improvement in transportation system efficiency, electricity grid optimization and outcomes. It ranks highly on registered light-duty and heavy-duty EVs and chargers per capita and has multiple dedicated funding streams for HD electrification. 

“It also has the second highest utility investment per capita, with Xcel Colorado being a national leader on transportation electrification.”

The ACEEE scorecard also noted that in states with home-rule cities, such as Colorado, EV-friendly building codes can be adopted more quickly, helping to ramp up EV charging infrastructure faster.

“Colorado is one such state,” the ACEEE report said. “Several of its jurisdictions, including the City of Denver and Boulder County, have adopted or are in the process of adopting EV-supportive building codes, impacting a combined 26% of the state population.”

Officials with the Colorado Energy Office and the Colorado Department of Transportation hailed the new third place ranking — which puts it in the company of much larger states — as evidence of the sound policies enacted the last several years to accelerate EV adoption in the state.

“Transportation is Colorado’s leading source of climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions and is a major contributor to unhealthy air quality,” said Will Toor, executive director of the Colorado Energy Office. “The state is committed to making electric vehicles more available, affordable and accessible for all Coloradans. With 83,000 electric vehicles and counting on Colorado roads, we’re proud of the progress we have made and look forward to continuing our work toward cleaner transportation and cleaner air for all.”

CDOT Executive Director Shoshana Lew also noted the rapid advancement the state had made.

“The fact that we’ve jumped up two places on this list from last year shows how aggressive Colorado’s efforts have been in moving our state to a low-emissions future,” Lew said. “CDOT is optimistic our transportation future will be one with clearer, bluer skies and sustainable mobility that does not warm the globe.”