Colorado accelerates access to clean cars to improve air quality, grow economy, and increase vehicle options for Coloradans
Colorado accelerates access to clean cars to improve air quality ... Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
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DENVER (October 20, 2023):
Today, Colorado’s Air Quality Control Commission adopted the Colorado Clean Cars standard. It will expand access to low- and zero-emission light duty vehicles such as passenger cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks. The state health department’s Air Pollution Control Division developed the standard to improve air quality, save Coloradans money, and address climate change. Colorado’s 2021 Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Roadmap shows that transportation-related emissions are one of the largest sources of air pollutants that cause climate change.
“Colorado is already among the states with the highest concentration of electric vehicles, and we don’t plan on hitting the brakes any time soon,” said Michael Ogletree, the division’s director. “Coloradans want low- and zero-emissions vehicles because they help them get where they’re going while breathing cleaner air and saving money. This standard will make clean vehicles more accessible across the state and improve air quality in local communities overburdened by pollution from busy roadways.”
Advancing Colorado’s market-based transition to clean vehicles
The Colorado Clean Cars standard will further expand access to clean vehicles in Colorado. It strengthens and extends the state’s existing clean vehicle standard. Input from a diverse group of stakeholders including community members, industry groups, and nonprofit organizations helped inform the final standard.
The Colorado Clean Cars standard:
- Directs vehicle manufacturers to continue making and selling more zero-emission light duty vehicles beginning with model year 2027, and increasing every year through 2032. Zero-emission options include battery-electric, plug-in hybrid electric, and fuel cell electric vehicles.
- Directs vehicle manufacturers to ensure 82% of new light duty vehicles sold in Colorado are electric by model year 2032. This will support Colorado’s goal of nearly one million electric vehicles on the road in Colorado by 2030.
- Establishes more protective standards for volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides emissions from conventional passenger vehicles. These pollutants endanger human health and interact with heat and sunlight to form harmful ground-level ozone pollution.
- Reduces greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide that cause climate change. This will help Colorado meet its goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Protecting public health and the environment
In addition to saving clean car buyers money on fuel and vehicle maintenance, the new rule will improve public health by reducing Coloradans’ exposure to tailpipe air pollution. Over half of these health benefits and health cost savings will occur in the state’s disproportionately impacted communities – such as those near highways and other major roadways that breathe in harmful air pollution emitted by gas-powered vehicles. There is substantial overlap between communities located near busy roadways and those cdphe.colorado.gov
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