FILE - This Dec. 21, 2020 image provided by the New Mexico General Services Department shows some of the recently installed electric vehicle charging stations at the Bataan Memorial Building in Santa Fe, N.M. Mandates for auto dealers to provide an increasing number of electric vehicles for sale across New Mexico will remain in place as state regulators on Friday, April 5, 2024, denied an effort to derail implementation of the new rules pending a legal challenge. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.
Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has been pushing for more electric vehicles in the state, saying doing so will curb emissions and help address climate change. The state has adopted more stringent standards for vehicle emissions and established the mandates for inventories of zero-emission vehicles, winning praise from environmentalists.
Starting in 2026, 43% of all new passenger cars and light-duty trucks shipped to New Mexico auto dealerships by national auto manufacturers must be zero-emission vehicles. The rules also call for 15% of all new commercial heavy-duty trucks to be zero-emission vehicles. “These standards are poised to slash harmful tailpipe pollution and save lives as they make New Mexico households, businesses, and economy less tethered to volatile and costly gasoline that damages our climate,” the advocacy group New Mexico Clean Air said in a statement after Friday’s vote.