Gas car sales are down. Electric car sales are way up. 

Mixed news for Colorado’s auto economy still manages to deliver very good news to state clean energy advocates. Combined sales of fully electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), both of which are considered ultra-low emission vehicles under Colorado laws, reached 10.5% of all car sales for 2022, by far a new high mark. In 2021, their combined share of the new vehicle market was 6.5%. 

And Colorado consumers would have snatched up even more EVs if manufacturers were keeping up with demand, Colorado Auto Dealers Association CEO Tim Jackson said. 

“If we had more electric vehicles available, our dealers would sell more electric vehicles,” Jackson said. Colorado is well ahead of the national average in fast adoption of alternative fuel vehicles, he noted. 

Adding thousands of new EV buyers to evangelize about the technology should keep pushing Colorado toward its ambitious adoption plan for the cleaner technology, enthusiastic Lakewood convert Doug Wells said after hearing the 2022 sales figures. Wells just got a Chevy Bolt, and a friend bought a plug-in hybrid in 2022. They have a bet on when Colorado will hit 20% clean vehicle sales.

Read the full story on ColoradoSun.com.