ELECTRIC VEHICLE WEIGHT ALLOWANCE

HB0286

HOUSE BILL 286

57th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2026

INTRODUCED BY

Art De La Cruz
and
Dayan Hochman-Vigil
and
Raymundo Lara

and
Jenifer Jones

AN ACT

RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLES; ESTABLISHING A WEIGHT ALLOWANCE FOR
HEAVY-DUTY ELECTRIC VEHICLES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

SECTION 1.
Section 66-1-4.5 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1990,
Chapter 120, Section 6, as amended) is amended to read:

"66-1-4.5. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Motor Vehicle
Code:

A. "electric-assisted bicycle" means a vehicle
having two or three wheels, fully operable pedals and an
electric motor. Electric-assisted bicycles are classified as
follows:

(1) "class 1 electric-assisted bicycle" means
an electric-assisted bicycle equipped with a motor not
exceeding seven hundred fifty watts of power that provides
assistance only when the rider is pedaling and that ceases to
provide assistance when the bicycle reaches a speed of twenty
miles per hour;

(2) "class 2 electric-assisted bicycle" means
an electric-assisted bicycle equipped with a motor not
exceeding seven hundred fifty watts of power that provides
assistance regardless of whether the rider is pedaling but
ceases to provide assistance when the bicycle reaches a speed
of twenty miles per hour; and

(3) "class 3 electric-assisted bicycle" means
an electric-assisted bicycle equipped with a motor not
exceeding seven hundred fifty watts of power that provides
assistance only when the rider is pedaling and that ceases to
provide assistance when the bicycle reaches a speed of twenty-eight miles per hour;

B. "electric mobility device" means a two- or
three-wheel vehicle with an electric motor for propulsion that
does not meet the definition of an electric-assisted bicycle
and is capable of exceeding a speed of twenty miles per hour on
motor power alone;

C. "electric vehicle" means a motor vehicle that
derives all of the vehicle's power from electricity stored in a
battery that:

(a) has a capacity of not less than twenty-five kilowatt-hours;

(b) is capable of powering the vehicle for a
range of at least one hundred miles; and

(c) is capable of being recharged from an
external source of electricity;

[
C.
]
D.
"electric personal assistive mobility
device" means a self-balancing device having two nontandem
wheels designed to transport a single person by means of an
electric propulsion system with an average power of one
horsepower and with a maximum speed on a paved level surface of
less than twenty miles per hour when powered solely by its
propulsion system and while being ridden by an operator who
weighs one hundred seventy pounds;

[
D.
]
E.
"electronic credential" means an electronic
extension of the department-issued physical credential that
conveys identity and driving privilege information;

[
E.
]
F.
"electronic credential system" means a
digital process that includes a method for loading electronic
credentials onto a device, issuing electronic credentials,
requesting and transmitting electronic credential data elements
and performing tasks to maintain the system;

[
F.
]
G.
"essential parts" means all integral and
body parts of a vehicle of a type required to be registered by
the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Code, the removal,
alteration or substitution of which would tend to conceal the
identity of the vehicle or substantially alter its appearance,
model, type or mode of operation;

[
G.
]
H.
"established place of business", for a
dealer or auto recycler, means a place:

(1) devoted exclusively to the business for
which the dealer or auto recycler is licensed and related
business;

(2) identified by a prominently displayed sign
giving the dealer's or auto recycler's trade name used by the
business;

(3) of sufficient size or space to permit the
display of one or more vehicles or to permit the parking or
storing of vehicles to be dismantled or wrecked for recycling;

(4) on which there is located an enclosed
building on a permanent foundation, which building meets the
building requirements of the community and is large enough to
accommodate the office or offices of the dealer or auto
recycler and large enough to provide a safe place to keep the
books and records of the dealer or auto recycler;

(5) where the principal portion of the
business of the dealer or auto recycler is conducted and where
the books and records of the business are kept and maintained;
and

(6) where vehicle sales are of new vehicles
only, such as a department store or a franchisee of a
department store, as long as the department store or franchisee
keeps the books and records of its vehicle business in a
general office location at its place of business; as used in
this paragraph, "department store" means a business that offers
a variety of merchandise other than vehicles, and sales of the
merchandise other than vehicles constitute at least eighty
percent of the gross sales of the business; and

[
H.
]
I.
"explosives" means any chemical compound or
mechanical mixture that is commonly used or intended for the
purpose of producing an explosion and that contains any
oxidizing and combustive units or other ingredients in such
proportions, quantities or packing that an ignition by fire,
friction, concussion, percussion or detonator of any part of
the compound or mixture may cause such a sudden generation of
highly heated gases that the resultant gaseous pressures are
capable of producing destructive effects on contiguous objects
or of destroying life or limb."

SECTION 2.
Section 66-7-410 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1978,
Chapter 35, Section 481, as amended) is amended to read:

"66-7-410. GROSS WEIGHT OF VEHICLES AND LOADS.--

A. Subject to the limit upon the weight imposed
upon the highway through any one axle as set forth in Section
66-7-409 NMSA 1978 and except as provided in Subsection D of
this section, the total gross weight with load imposed upon the
highway by any one group of two or more consecutive axles of a
vehicle or combination of vehicles shall not exceed the gross
weight given for the respective distance between the first and
last axle of the group of axles measured longitudinally to the
nearest foot as set forth in the following table:

Distance in feet between first

Allowed load in pounds

and last axles of group

on group of axles

4

34,320

5

35,100

6

35,880

7

36,660

8

37,440

9

38,220

10

39,000

11

39,780

12

40,560

13

41,340

14

42,120

15

42,900

16

43,680

17

44,460

18

45,240.

B. Except as provided in Subsection D of this
section, the total gross weight with load imposed on the
highway by any vehicle or combination of vehicles where the
distance between the first and last axles is more than eighteen
feet shall not exceed that given for the respective distances
in the following table:

Distance in feet between first

Allowed load in pounds

and last axles of group

on group of axles

19

53,100

20

54,000

21

54,900

22

55,800

23

56,700

24

57,600

25

58,500

26

59,400

27

60,300

28

61,200

29

62,100

30

63,000

31

63,900

32

64,800

33

65,700

34

66,600

35

67,500

36

68,400

37

69,300

38

70,200

39

71,100

40

72,000

41

72,900

42

73,800

43

74,700

44

75,600

45

76,500

46

77,400

47

78,300

48

79,200

49

80,100

50

81,000

51

81,900

52

82,800

53

83,700

54

84,600

55

85,500

56 or over

86,400.

C. The distance between the centers of the axles
shall be measured to the nearest even foot. When a fraction is
exactly one-half, the next larger whole number shall be used.

D. The total gross weight with load limitations
imposed by this section for any vehicle or combination of
vehicles shall be increased by:

(1) four hundred pounds if the vehicle or
combination of vehicles uses idle reduction technology; [
or
]

(2) if the vehicle is a natural gas vehicle, a
standard gross weight limit increase for each axle distance
category in this section, established by the division by rule,
by an amount equal to the difference between the average weight
of the vehicle attributable to its natural gas tank and fuel
system and the average weight of a comparable diesel tank and
fuel system;
or

(3) if the vehicle is an electric vehicle, a
gross vehicle weight rating of twenty-six thousand one pounds
or more
."

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