Public meetings for Advanced Clean Cars II and Clean Trucks:
Santa Fe
Tuesday, Sept. 19: 4:30-6:30 pm, Southside Library, Santa Fe, 6599 Jaguar Dr, Santa Fe, NM 87507, public notice
Online
Oct. 4: 4:30-6:30 pm, Online, Registration, public notice
Albuquerque
Oct. 16: 4:30-6:30 pm, Community Meeting Room, Albuquerque International District Public Library, 7601 Central Ave NE, Albuquerque, NM 87108, public notice
The New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board and Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Air Quality Control Board will hold joint hearings to decide on adoption the rules Nov. 13-15 in Albuquerque., public notice
On July 3, Gov. Lujan Grisham proposed Advanced Clean Car II and Advanced Clean Trucks standards. The proposal requires 82% of new cars sold in New Mexico by 2032 to have zero tailpipe emissions. Clean Trucks would require an increasing percentage of medium- and heavy-duty trucks be electric. If adopted, Clean Cars and Trucks would go into effect starting with the 2027 model year. The New Mexico Environment Department is holding meetings to hear from the public.
Please raise your voice in favor of these climate- and health-saving Clean Cars and Trucks standards!
These standards reduce air pollution and will require auto and truck manufacturers to deliver an increasing number of zero-emission electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles for sale. The standards will create jobs, address climate change, and make EVs more accessible in New Mexico.
The Advanced Clean Cars and Trucks standards are an important step to deliver more affordable, clean, electric cars and trucks for people to drive, and reduce harmful air pollution that is impacting everyone, especially communities that live along transportation routes. These standards will deliver substantial benefits of lower costs, cleaner air, more jobs and less climate damage.
Recent studies find that these standards would provide New Mexico up to $44 billion in economic benefits, including public health and climate improvements, savings to drivers, and utility savings — by fully adopting the standards through 2035.
Improving Equity:
Reducing vehicle pollution from trucks will protect public health, particularly in low-income, Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities that live closest to transportation routes in New Mexico. The Advanced Clean Trucks standard will hold trucking companies accountable for the pollution impacting New Mexicans’ health.
- A recent report analyzing the projecting total cost of ownership in 2027 for several medium- and heavy-duty market segments (including transit and school buses, shuttles, delivery vehicles and refuse haulers) shows that EVs are better investments than their fossil-fuel counterparts.
- By 2027, the purchase price alone will make many categories of electric medium- and heavy-duty vehicles (including transit and school buses; delivery vans and trucks, and refuse haulers) less expensive than their fossil-fuel counterparts.
Benefits from adopting Clean Cars II fully through 2035:
These rules would reduce climate pollution by hundreds of millions of metric tons by 2050, about the same amount as the total pollution New Mexico produces in a year, making these among the most effective climate policies New Mexico could adopt.
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- A recent study shows that New Mexicans could receive up to $44 billion in public health and climate benefits.
- This includes:
- Avoiding 85 to 93 premature deaths a year; 80 to 86 hospital visits; and 48,291 to 52,482 health events from breathing polluted air;
- Reducing up to 116 million metric tons of greenhouse-gas emissions, 38,000 metric tons of health-harming nitrogen oxide, and 3,300 metric tons of particulate matter;
- Creating nearly 1,000 additional jobs, many in well-paying positions in electrical-component manufacturing and construction;
- Saving individual EV owners between $14,000 and $16,800 during the life of their vehicle and delivering more than $30 billion in total savings for drivers through 2050.
- Saving the average New Mexico household up to $24 on their annual electricity bill and saving the average commercial customer up to $185 on their annual electricity bill.
EVs save drivers money and can benefit utility customers
- Federal $7,500 tax credits are available for new EVs and $4,000 credits for used cars. These will be transferable to dealers so they can be taken off your purchase price — you don’t need to deduct them on your taxes.
- New Mexico legislation has created rebate programs through utilities that provide up to $2,500 for ratepayers who upgrade their electrical, install chargers and purchase EVs.
- Plug-in hybrids are included in these standards. These cars use battery charge for the first 30 to 50 miles and then switch to gas. Most drivers rarely have to buy gas, because their daily driving doesn’t exceed 30 miles.
- Because EVs remain parked most of the time, EV load is a highly flexible resource. Charging vehicles when grid is underutilized allows utilities to spread their fixed costs and puts downward pressure on rates.
- EV drivers contribute an estimated $806M more to the economy than associated costs. Another study predicts similar benefits to New Mexico, including billions of dollars in reduced fuel and maintenance costs. People in rural areas are more likely to drive longer distances, making fuel costs even greater and savings greater. These vehicles will likely be harder to purchase unless Clean Cars standards are adopted.
- Electric vehicles are expected to reach upfront cost parity by the year this rule is implemented. EVs benefit customers who finance on Day 1 in most cases. Low-income customers spend a larger portion of their income on fuel, so this will have disproportionate benefit for low-income customers
- While many low-income families are more likely to purchase used, more used EVs will become available with the adoption of these standards. This can be a real benefit to low- and moderate-income families.
- Electric vehicles are expected to reach upfront price parity with gas vehicles by the time these rules are implemented in 2027.