A big thank you to Gov. Polis from Colorado’s Western Slope for signing the zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) executive order. This order puts us on the road to expand availability of fully or partially electric vehicles (EVs) in Colorado.
Today, our EV choices are limited in Durango. According to registration data, the number of EVs in La Plata County increased 34 percent since last year. Obviously, there is demand. Why is it so hard to buy or test-drive an EV here?
An informal survey of Durango owners of all-electric Chevy Bolts found that of nine vehicles, all were bought from dealers elsewhere. In most cases, attempts were made to buy from the Durango dealer, but they either didn’t have any or said because they’re a small dealer, it would take months to get.
The situation is worse at Durango’s Toyota dealer for the Toyota plug-in Prius. Toyota only sells it in places with ZEV standards or air pollution control incentives.
The situation is similar for the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Meanwhile, the local Nissan dealership has sold dozens of Nissan Leafs to willing buyers. They seem to always have one on the lot.
A ZEV standard would require manufacturers to make EVs available in Colorado. It does not require anyone buy them. However, as more rural drivers become aware of EVs’ benefits for our long commutes over steep terrains, they will want to test-drive them and have a variety of models available.
A ZEV standard for Colorado will give us these choices.
Sarah Kelly
Durango
