N.M. charges ahead for e-cars
State ranks well for availability of power ports but finding one in rural areas can be difficult
New Mexico’s plan to supply more charging stations for electric vehicles seems to be paying off. The vehicle analysis company Bumper issued a study last week that ranked New Mexico No. 16 for access to charging stations, with an average of 5.39 charge ports per 10,000 people.
The national average is 2.94 charge ports per 10,000, according to the report.
Each station may have several individual ports to handle multiple electric vehicles at once. New Mexico has 238 charging stations with a total of 557 ports.
The report comes about nine months after the Federal Highway Administration announced it approved $38 million in funding to support the state’s plan to build more chargers through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
The state is working to reduce its carbon footprint and promote energy efficient programs and procedures, including the use of electric vehicles.
To that end, the state is applying for a U.S. Department of Transportation grant for about $100 million in additional infrastructure funds to build 20 more charging stations every 50 miles along New Mexico’s two main interstates, said Jerry Martinez, executive project director for the state Department of Transportation.
If the state succeeds in acquiring the grant money, he said he hopes those stations are up and running by the end of 2024. Any leftover funds from the grant money can be applied to helping rural municipalities install charging stations, he said.
“We want to make sure e-tourism is on the forefront to make sure people can travel to our most beautiful, rural parts of our state,” Martinez said.
The purchase and use of electric vehicles is on the rise, according to a January Kelley Blue Book report that said 5.8% of new American vehicles bought in 2022 were electric, an increase from 3.2% in 2021.
About 800,000 electric vehicles were sold in the United States in 2022, the report said.
According to the New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division, in 2022 there were 4,235 electric vehicles registered in the state.
Still, charging gaps exist in some of the state’s rural regions, with several of its smaller counties — including Harding, DeBaca, Catron, Lea, Roosevelt and, surprisingly, Los Alamos — having no charging ports.
Other rural counties have just one: Union, Mora and Cibola.
Kerry Sherin, a consumer advocate and data analyst for Bumper, said the state’s numbers are promising.
New Mexico she said “is democratizing that access to EV charge ports … and giving fairly equitable access.”
She said both on the state and national level there are a lot of rural communities that have few or no charge ports, which can lead to “range anxiety” when it comes to driving an electric vehicle through those areas.
That’s because, depending on the type of electric vehicle a person owns, they tend to run 100 to 300 miles before needing a charge.
In some cases, that could prevent someone from driving one of those vehicles from, say, Santa Fe to Roswell — which has just two charging stations — if there are no reliable charging ports along the way.
Cody Dynarski has felt that anxiety. Though he has never run out of battery juice while driving his 2022 Hyundai electric car, he is wary of taking it too far from Santa Fe County.
“I definitely get nervous once I leave Santa Fe because even if I just go 50 or 60 miles between Santa Fe and Albuquerque, there’s really no good charging opportunities [along the way],” said Dynarski, spokesman for Santa Fe Public Schools.
As a result, Dynarski added, he has to ensure “you have enough charge to get down to Albuquerque or you might be looking for a long day on the side of the road.”
Albuquerque resident Steve Earsom has felt the same sense of concern, which is why he was juicing up at a charging port Thursday behind the state Capitol. He thought he could make it from Albuquerque to Alamosa, Colo. — about 200 miles — without having to charge along the way.
But as he lost some battery power driving north to Santa Fe, he decided to play it safe and stop here, where he spent 30 to 40 minutes charging his 2020 Chevy Bolt electric car.
“There’s definitely still challenges there,” he said of finding easy-to-access charging sites. “Range anxiety is very real.”
He said on a trip from Albuquerque to El Paso, he stopped at the only charging site in the Truth or Consequences area. It was a low-level charging port, so it took about three hours to charge the vehicle.
While he waited for his car to acquire the juice, Earsom said he spent the time visiting local stores and eating at a Mexican restaurant.
Such activities are one reason private companies, such as Walmart, are also setting up charging stations, Sherin noted.
“There’s an opportunity to increase foot traffic” while vehicle owners waiting for the charging process to play out shop or eat, she said.
According to an email from Sherin, an array of entities, ranging from local and state governmental agencies, hotels, gas stations, car dealerships, colleges and businesses, have set up charging stations in New Mexico.
The report did not break down the various charging power levels of the New Mexico ports. Nor did it detail charging fees.
Dynarski said he recently paid about $11 to charge for two hours at the station near the state Capitol, which bought him about 145 miles of traveling.
In New Mexico, Bernalillo County had the most number of charging stations — 71 — with a total of 158 ports. Santa Fe County came in second, with 57 charging stations and 119 ports.