Posted inBusiness, Economy, Energy, Environment, News, Technology

Amazon’s first electric vans started delivering packages in the Denver area this week

The first Amazon deliveries using new Rivian electric vans reached Denver this week, one of 16 U.S. locations the online retailer plans to deploy electric vehicles on its routes. Amazon is one of Rivian’s investors and began testing the all-electric vans in Los Angeles earlier this year. It’s part of the company’s “Climate Pledge,” to […]

Posted inOutdoors

All state parks in Colorado will get electric vehicle charging stations in deal with EV maker Rivian

Electric vehicle maker Rivian will put public charging stations in every state park at no cost to the state, with the first installations planned for July, after the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission unanimously approved the proposal.  Backers on the commission and from outside environmental groups said the pact is a fast and worthy step […]

Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns

Opinion: Colorado new car dealers welcome competition and electric vehicles

Legislation pending in the Colorado General Assembly, Senate Bill 167, has critics of the independently operated automotive distribution system in full cry. “The franchised dealer model is anticompetitive,” we hear.  “Colorado dealers are trying to keep electric cars out of the market,” they say. These critics either don’t know how the automotive dealership system works […]

Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government, Technology, Transportation

Auto dealers, electric-vehicle startups reach compromise to allow Colorado direct-to-consumer sales

Coloradans are one step closer to getting electric vehicles from startups like Rivian after a once-contentious bill allowing some EV manufacturers to bypass dealerships and sell directly to consumers cleared its final legislative committee on Monday. Senate Bill 167 also marked a significant compromise by a powerful lobby that opposed a similar measure last year […]

Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government, Technology

As more electric vehicles are on the way, Colorado’s tax incentives begin to wind down

Colorado is gearing up for an influx of electric vehicles, thanks to new state policies and pending legislation to increase the number of vehicles available for sale and who can sell them. But there’s one thing in decline — the tax credits available to new electric-car buyers. Colorado’s credit for new EV purchases dropped to […]

Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government, Technology, Transportation

Electric-vehicle makers want to sell directly to Coloradans. Dealers say that’s a “solution in search of a problem.”

Update: The state Senate Energy & Transportation committee approved the bill on a vote of 3 to 2 on February 18, 2020. Senate Bill 167 now heads to the full Senate for consideration. The wave of new electric vehicles from auto manufacturers combined with new EV-friendly policies has Colorado prepping for what it hopes will […]

Posted inBusiness, Environment, News, Politics and Government

The good, the bad and the complicated: How Colorado’s electric vehicle laws changed this session

Rivian, the buzzy automaker promising an electric pick-up truck by late 2020, had state lawmakers’ attention during the legislative session — if only for a few minutes. In those moments during a House committee hearing last month, a representative from the Michigan company shared that Colorado has a special place in the company’s future. “In […]