Colorado Hits 83% EV Charging Coverage on State Highways

Colorado just solved one of the biggest problems holding electric vehicle drivers back: range anxiety on rural roads.

The state now has 486 public fast-charging stations covering 83% of its highway network. That's a massive jump from just 40% coverage in August 2020. What used to be a patchwork of charging stations with nerve-wracking gaps has become a nearly complete network you can actually rely on.

The progress is especially exciting in rural Colorado, where long distances and low traffic made it tough for private companies to build stations. Towns like Kit Carson now have chargers filling what used to be a 100-mile dead zone between Limon and the Kansas border. Cortez got a station closing an 80-mile gap to Durango and the Four Corners.

Seventeen charging locations built with federal infrastructure money are already running, with 33 more under construction. Northern Colorado got stations in Longmont and Lyons, creating reliable routes to mountain communities. Other new stations opened in Frisco, Monument, Sterling, Durango, Wray, and a dozen more towns that desperately needed them.

The state has also electrified 20 of its 26 Scenic Byways, making it possible to take electric road trips through Colorado's most beautiful areas.

Colorado pulled this off by combining $56.5 million in federal funding with state money through one smart grant program instead of creating separate bureaucracies. The approach prioritized places the market wouldn't serve on its own, making sure rural communities weren't left behind in the electric transition.

The Ripple Effect

This network does more than help EV drivers feel confident on road trips. Small towns along these routes now have modern infrastructure that can attract travelers who might stop for lunch, coffee, or gas while their car charges. A charging station becomes a reason to visit.

The remaining gaps are getting smaller and more specific. State officials are now talking about individual stretches of highway and particular mountain corridors, not entire regions without service. That shift shows how far Colorado has come.

Round 9 of the state's charging grant program received 22 applications for 73 new locations, with special incentives for the hardest-to-serve communities. If Colorado meets updated federal standards for network completion, remaining federal money could go toward community charging projects beyond just highways.

Five years ago, electric vehicle owners had to carefully plan routes and hope nothing went wrong. Today, Colorado drivers can head almost anywhere in the state with confidence.