The administration of Vice President Joe Biden is striving to increase the number of electric vehicles on the road. New Mexico has already pressed the accelerator.
President Joe Biden has issued a new executive order aimed at dramatically increasing electric car sales in the United States, with a goal of 50% by 2030.
“An electric future for the automobile industry.” Battery electric, plug-in electric, hybrid electric, and fuel cell electric are all options. “It’s electrifying, and there’s no going back,” Biden added.
According to Pew Research, the country’s unemployment rate is now at 2%, with the rate in New Mexico being even lower.
“I’m not sure whether that’s possible in New Mexico, but it’s a fantastic goal to aim for,” Sandra Ely, head of the Environmental Protection Department, said.
According to Ely, the state is already focusing on new laws to increase the number of electric vehicles on the road.
“So, for those electric cars, the phase-in is that a certain proportion of vehicles on the lot, the dealer’s lot, must be electric, and that percentage increases over time. “By 2026, we’re looking at maybe 24 percent,” she added.
The Clean Car Standards are what they’re called. They were originally enacted in California in 2002, and 14 other states and the District of Columbia have since followed suit.
According to environmentalists, this is keeping New Mexico in the rear seat.
“As a result, manufacturers are taking all of their electric vehicles to those places, and we won’t be able to obtain the nice, electric automobiles that everyone wants here,” Tammy Fiebelkorn of the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project explained. “The first stage is just to have something accessible so that consumers have an option when it comes to purchasing a car.”
The City of Albuquerque is already ahead of the game in this regard.
“Being on the verge of this developing industry is extremely essential,” said Kelsey Rader, the city of Albuquerque’s chief sustainability officer.
In July, the city established the electrified dealer plan, which encourages dealerships to increase their electric vehicle inventory in return for free advertising. So yet, just one dealer has agreed to participate.
“We hope that, in the end, dealers will start to focus electric car sales more to ensure that such vehicles are front and center and highly visible to clients,” Rader added. “We realize that EVs will be the principal cars offered by these large car manufacturers in a few years, so it’s critical that the city of Albuquerque stays up with the EV market.”
These projects, however, do not end at the dealerships.
“These green automobile regulations will assist individuals who want to purchase a new car, but it would also launch the used car market, which will make things available to more people like us,” Fiebelkorn added.
Electric automobiles, according to research, can save you a lot of money.
Electric automobiles are 4-cents cheaper per mile than fuel vehicles, according to the US Department of Energy, equating to about $12,000 in savings.
“My monthly fuel expenditures are around $6, and there are no repairs, right? So I haven’t spent money on changing the oil, belts, or other maintenance, and my car’s only costs in the previous several years have been windshield wipers and new tires,” Fiebelkorn explained.
The transition to electric cars in New Mexico is expected to remove 2-million tons of co2 from the air by 2030, according to preliminary statistics.
“These restrictions are being implemented not only to decrease greenhouse gas emissions in New Mexico but also to enhance air quality across the state.” We have certain counties in New Mexico where ozone levels are growing and will soon be hazardous for the population, and we want to attempt to get ahead of that,” Ely said.
