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Ford electric vehicle sales surging as Colorado named best place to buy new EV

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June 28, 2016, 10:24 am
Ford Fusion Energi.

Ford Fusion Energi.

America as a whole may still be embroiled in an ongoing love affair with the automobile dating back to at least the 1960s, but Colorado is increasingly becoming enamored with the “EV,” or electric vehicle, and a big reason is the recent tax-credit bill passed by the Colorado Legislature.

“Sales of electrified vehicles have grown 6 percent in Colorado for the first quarter of 2016, compared to the car market declining 14 percent,” said Mike Grammes, sales ops manager for Ford Motor Company’s Denver region.

“To capitalize on the growth, we’ve launched no-interest financing for 60 months plus $4,000 cash back on both C-Max and Fusion Energi, and lease payments under $250 a month with no down payment.”

Earlier this month, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper signed HB1332 (pdf), sponsored by House Majority Leader Crisanta Duran, which creates a streamlined $5,000 tax credit for buying an electric vehicle.

The law, which saw only one dissenting vote in both the House and the Senate, also creates a streamlined $7,000 credit for light-duty trucks, $10,000 credit for medium-duty trucks and $20,000 credit for heavy-duty trucks.

Electric vehicle buyers in the past had to wait until tax day in April to reap state tax-credit benefits, but they can now get the incentives on the day they drive their new EV off the lot.

“We passed this bill to make Colorado one of the best places to buy alternative-fuel vehicles,” said Duran, a Denver Democrat. “By incentivizing energy efficient vehicles, we are investing in renewable energy and protecting the clean air and natural resources that make Colorado such a beautiful place to live.”

An article last month in the Washington Post named Colorado the best place in the country to buy an electric car, citing the new state tax credits that — combined with existing federal credits — can provide up to $12,500 in EV incentives for Colorado residents.

Ford’s electric vehicle push

Ford is investing $4.5 billion in EV technology, adding 13 new electrified vehicles to its portfolio by 2020, with more than 40 percent of its models being electrified by the end of the decade.

The company expects to see EV sales continue to grow in Colorado because of the new state law providing credits at the time of purchase.

“We appreciate the efforts that they’re making,” said Cynthia Williams, Ford’s associate director for Vehicle, Environmental and Regulatory Strategy. “They’re promoting plug-ins through the streamlined tax-credit program, and through their program consumers actually get the tax credit at the point of sale.

“That’s crucial, because the more you can reduce the price at the point of purchase for the consumer, that helps them make that decision faster with regard to moving into these vehicles.”

Williams adds Colorado also has one of the lowest annual registration fees in the nation for a plug-in electric vehicle at $50, part of an overall regulatory strategy of incentives that the company prefers to the approach of California’s ZEV (zero-emissions vehicle) Mandate, which has been adopted by several other states and requires manufacturers to meet EV quotas.

“That’s pretty much what we like to do through incentives … get consumers into the products to let them know they are just normal,” Williams added.

“They operate no differently than a gasoline vehicle; it just has a different power train. The more we can get consumers into the vehicles and get them looking at the vehicles, the more we’ll see an uptick in the EV market in the future.”

Nationally, Ford has seen record sales of Fusion Energi in the United States this year, with 5,535 sold so far in 2016 compared to 3,563 during the same period last year.

The company thinks Fusion Energi sales are surging because it can go farther than any other plug-in hybrid on the market – up to 610 miles.

The largest state and federal tax credits are for a 100-percent electric vehicle ($5,000 state and $7,500 federal), whereas a plug-in with both a gas and electric motor receives credits of about $4,000 from the feds and $2,000 from the state.

Federal tax credits still must be realized at the time of filing in April.

For more information on an electric vehicle, go the company website.

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David O. Williams

Managing Editor at RealVail
David O. Williams is the editor and co-founder of RealVail.com and has had his awarding-winning work (see About Us) published in more than 75 newspapers and magazines around the world, including 5280 Magazine, American Way Magazine (American Airlines), the Anchorage Daily News (Alaska), the Anchorage Daily Press (Alaska), Aspen Daily News, Aspen Journalism, the Aspen Times, Beaver Creek Magazine, the Boulder Daily Camera, the Casper Star Tribune (Wyoming), the Chicago Tribune, Colorado Central Magazine, the Colorado Independent (formerly Colorado Confidential), Colorado Newsline, Colorado Politics (formerly the Colorado Statesman), Colorado Public News, the Colorado Springs Gazette, the Colorado Springs Independent, the Colorado Statesman (now Colorado Politics), the Colorado Times Recorder, the Cortez Journal, the Craig Daily Press, the Curry Coastal Pilot (Oregon), the Daily Trail (Vail), the Del Norte Triplicate (California), the Denver Daily News, the Denver Gazette, the Denver Post, the Durango Herald, the Eagle Valley Enterprise, the Eastside Journal (Bellevue, Washington), ESPN.com, Explore Big Sky (Mont.), the Fort Morgan Times (Colorado), the Glenwood Springs Post-Independent, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, the Greeley Tribune, the Huffington Post, the King County Journal (Seattle, Washington), the Kingman Daily Miner (Arizona), KUNC.org (northern Colorado), LA Weekly, the Las Vegas Sun, the Leadville Herald-Democrat, the London Daily Mirror, the Moab Times Independent (Utah), the Montgomery Journal (Maryland), the Montrose Daily Press, The New York Times, the Parent’s Handbook, Peaks Magazine (now Epic Life), People Magazine, Powder Magazine, the Pueblo Chieftain, PT Magazine, the Rio Blanco Herald Times (Colorado), Rocky Mountain Golf Magazine, the Rocky Mountain News, RouteFifty.com (formerly Government Executive State and Local), the Salt Lake Tribune, SKI Magazine, Ski Area Management, SKIING Magazine, the Sky-Hi News, the Steamboat Pilot & Today, the Sterling Journal Advocate (Colorado), the Summit Daily News, United Hemispheres (United Airlines), Vail/Beaver Creek Magazine, Vail en Español, Vail Health Magazine, Vail Valley Magazine, the Vail Daily, the Vail Trail, Westword (Denver), Writers on the Range and the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. Williams is also the founder, publisher and editor of RealVail.com and RockyMountainPost.com.