A bill that would extend Colorado’s tax credits for electric vehicles is intended to help accelerate the goal of increasing the number of zero-emission vehicles on the state’s roads.

The bill by Rep. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, D-Longmont, and Rep. Matt Gray, D-Broomfield, would extend the credits, currently set to end in 2021. The tax credits for cars and medium- and heavy-duty trucks would run through 2025 at decreasing amounts.

The House Energy and Environment Committee voted 7-4 Monday to send HB19-1159 to the House Finance Committee.

Under the bill, the tax credit for a passenger electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle would drop from the current $5,000 after the first year to $4,000 and end at $2,500. The goal is to encourage people to buy electric vehicles sooner rather than later, Jaquez Lewis said.

Tax credits for light- to heavy-duty trucks run from $7,000 to $20,000. The bill retains the $2,500 tax credit for leased vehicles.

The state credits would be on top of the federal tax credit of $2,500 to $7,500, based on the vehicle’s size and battery capacity.

Extending the tax credits is in line with the state’s emphasis on getting more electric vehicles on the road to help cut pollution that causes health problems, fouls the air and contributes to climate change. The high-end projection in the Colorado Electric Vehicle Plan says there could be nearly 1 million electric vehicles in the state by 2030, which could reduce smog-forming pollutants by several hundreds of tons and greenhouse gases by up to 3 million tons.

“We need to usher these vehicles at a time where they are the rule, not the exception,” Gray said in a statement. “We need to make sure we are supporting these vehicles, getting more of them on the road, and making a cleaner future for our state.”

Shortly after taking office in January, Gov.Jared Polis signed an executive order reaffirming the goals in the state electric vehicle plan and directing the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to write a zero-emission vehicle standard to increase use of electric vehicles.

At the end of August, there were a total of 15,866 electric vehicles, including plug-in hybrids, in Colorado, according to the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. That was a 50-percent increase from the same time in 2017.

As part of state electric vehicle plan, some of the nearly $70 million Colorado was awarded in the national settlement with Volkswagen is being used to build electric charging stations across the state. Colorado ranks seventh in the nation in the number of electric-vehicle charging stations — 710 — according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Of those, 650 are open to the public.

Jaquez Lewis said she believes the bill’s chances of making it through the legislature to Polis’ desk are “excellent.” She said people speaking Monday in favor of extending the tax credits included representatives of communities interested in offering their own incentives and businesses that want to convert their fleets.

The Colorado Automobile Dealers Association has criticized the state’s efforts to encourage the sale of electric vehicles, saying it amounts to government picking winners and losers. The association also says Colorado buyers’ choices will be limited because 75 percent of the vehicles sold in the state are sports utility vehicles or trucks.

Jaquez Lewis disagrees. “When it comes to electric vehicle markets, it’s the way of the future.”

In addition, manufacturers are expanding the line-up of electric trucks, she added.