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."
- 9 -