New tariffs, the loss of key subsidies and other factors sent Colorado electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid sales off a cliff in the first quarter of the year, with new EV registrations plummeting 64% and dragging down the overall state car market by nearly 20% compared with early 2025.
The drop was so steep that consultants for the Colorado Auto Dealers Association predict overall car and light truck sales will drop 5.3% for 2026, a distinct slump in an influential element of the economy. Colorado’s new car registrations in the first three months of 2026 fell further than any of the 24 states studied.
Severely deflating the once-promising clean car market in Colorado was the Sept. 30 loss of a $7,500 federal tax credit. Colorado’s state EV subsidy also declined, to $750 from $2,500, on Jan. 1.
Meanwhile, interest rates for new car loans have stayed stubbornly high, and new features and company price increases have pushed the average sale into the $50,000 range at a time when job uncertainty is rising.
A $1 a gallon spike in fuel prices since the start of the Iran war in March has also cut into consumer spending.
To read the entire article, visit The Colorado Sun.
