ECONOMY
Uncertainty clouds New Mexico鈥檚 electric vehicle ambitions
A new Brookings Institution report says the state is far from prepared for that future, even as it implements its own mandate
New Mexico鈥檚 electric vehicle mandate is in a state of legal limbo, with dealers saying they do not have to comply with it and the state government saying they do.
Amid the uncertainty, electric vehicle sales are down.
鈥淭here is no EV mandate,鈥� said Carlos Garcia, executive manager of Garcia Automotive Group, which has dealerships in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and El Paso.
Garcia, along with the New Mexico Automotive Dealers Association, challenged a New Mexico mandate, passed in 2023, that electric vehicles starting with model year 2027 comprise 43% of new passenger cars and light-duty trucks delivered to New Mexico. That requirement is set to increase by 8% annually to a maximum of 82% by 2032.
In April, the New Mexico Court of Appeals rejected the challenge by Garcia鈥檚 dealerships and the state鈥檚 main auto trade group to the rules. Both Garcia and the group鈥檚 executive director said they will not appeal to the state Supreme Court.
Ken Ortiz, executive director of the New Mexico Automotive Dealers Association, said last June, Congress, through a resolution, removed the Section 177 waiver from the U.S. Clean Air Act that allowed states to follow stricter California emissions standards. New Mexico was one of the states that did so.
鈥淎ll states, including California, have to follow federal emissions standards,鈥� Ortiz said.
The California Air Resources Board has sued the Trump administration over the waivers in a case pending before a federal court. Ortiz said he believes that the losing party will likely appeal that lawsuit, 鈥渟o it鈥檚 probably going to be a couple of years before the legal status of electric vehicle mandates settles.鈥�
鈥淭o my knowledge, they shouldn鈥檛 be enforcing it,鈥� Ortiz said of New Mexico鈥檚 state mandate. 鈥淏ecause of this congressional resolution act, there鈥檚 no EV mandate.鈥�
Ortiz said EV sales dipped to about 2.5% in the months following the repeal of a $7,500 federal tax credit for EV purchases. Currently, EV sales are around 4%, he said.
鈥淛ust imagine 4% currently to 43% overnight would have been disastrous to New Mexico, to small business. Folks would not be able to buy the vehicle they want,鈥� Ortiz said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e seen an increased interest in plug-in hybrids. EVs are still stuck at 4%.鈥�
But the New Mexico Environment Department, in a statement sent Wednesday, said the state mandate remains in place.
鈥淭here are numerous legal cases underway challenging Congress鈥檚 illegal action that promoted the interest of auto manufacturers to force the purchase of more outdated, expensive technology that leaves New Mexicans vulnerable to Trump-led fossil fuel shocks,鈥� said Drew Goretzka, spokesperson for the Environment Department. 鈥淣one of these cases ordered stopping or delaying New Mexico鈥檚 new motor vehicle emissions standards 鈥� New Mexico鈥檚 adoption of California鈥檚 Advanced Clean Cars II Program.鈥�
He added: 鈥淚n fact, the New Mexico Court of Appeals recently rejected the New Mexico Auto Dealers Association and the Garcia Auto Group鈥檚 attempts to overturn the same rules.鈥�
Garcia said that as manufacturers have scaled back production, EVs have been more difficult to order. He estimated that 99% of the cars he orders for his lots are gas or hybrid vehicles.
The lack of charging infrastructure softens consumer demand, he said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a pretty simple mathematical calculation between population, population density, and numbers of EVs on the road that dictate how many chargers you need and where they are,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd we鈥檝e always had a pretty big deficit for that. EV sales in New Mexico before the mandate鈥� were below 4%, and they鈥檙e even lower than that now. The numbers don鈥檛 lie.鈥�
The Brookings Institution, in a , benchmarked how efficiently states are using 鈥渢heir policy levers at a time of federal EV entrenchment.鈥�
The report gave New Mexico six out of 13 possible points on EV-readiness benchmarks such as consumer incentives, environmental standards, charging infrastructure, market access and government procurement of EV fleets.
New Mexico ranks 29th among states in electric vehicles on the road 鈥� for every 1,000 vehicles in New Mexico, just over five are EVs.
The report said 10,276 electric vehicles are registered in New Mexico. The state ranks 17th in public charging stations per electric vehicle, according to the report. In total, there are 1,324 public electric charging stations, the Brookings report found.
Data from the state Motor Vehicle Division show that electric vehicle sales comprised only 3.23% of the 90,516 vehicles sold in New Mexico in 2025.
Mavis and Randy Guber, charging their Tesla at a supercharger station in Santa Fe, said they purchased their second Tesla right before the cancellation of the $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit.
The two are from the San Francisco Bay area. A full charge takes 50 minutes. A screen on the Tesla maps out the charging stations along the route. An 80% charge costs about $20, and gets about 280 miles, Randy Guber said. But they are charging to 100% along the way to Denver.
鈥淲e tend to be a little nervous,鈥� she said.
Justin Horwath covers tech and energy for the Journal. You can reach him at jhorwath@abqjournal.com.
