Colorado revives “cash for clunkers,” offers $6,000 for an old car you trade for an EV
Car buyers, fire up your internet and get your websites pre-loaded.
The Colorado electric vehicle cash-for-clunkers program starts Thursday at 9 a.m., with $6,000 in extra rebates available to the first few hundred people who sign up and are willing to turn in an older fossil-fuel powered car. Those participating in Vehicle Exchange Colorado must apply the $6,000 toward a qualifying new or leased electric vehicle or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, or take $4,000 off a used EV.
Electrification rebates tend to go fast. (See: “e-bike rebates/crashed servers” in your search bar.) Colorado has $1.8 million for the first year of the clunkers exchange rebates, and hopes to expand the budget for the next fiscal year starting in July 2024. Colorado Energy Office program manager Ed Piersa said the state expects the exchange program to last for years and ramp up financing if it proves popular.
Let’s jump right to the biggest questions about the clunkers exchange:
Why is Colorado doing this, and whose money is being used?