ALBUQUERQUE, NM) - PNM is celebrating National Drive Electric Week by showing off the three electric vehicles in its New Mexico fleet, and announcing its commitment to add more in the near future. Acquired four months ago, the three sedans are used for short travel jobs and are frequently driven by field engineers. "These electric cars, fully charged, can run 20 to 40 miles off of the battery and will regenerate while driving, using a combination of gas and battery giving your trip an overall average of 80 to 90 mpg," said Dave Fisher, fleet manager, Chain Fleet.

But PNM isn't stopping there.

"We will be adding more electric cars to our fleet that will be actively being used at the end of October," said Aubrey Johnson, vice president of New Mexico Operations."

PNM's electric vehicles can be charged by plugging into any regular outlet, but by the end of October there will be two new charging stations.

They will be placed at PNM's Albuquerque and Santa Fe Service Centers, and will be able to charge 16 PNM cars at one time. These charging stations will have more power than a regular outlet, cutting down the charging time.

"It's the right thing to do for the environment, it helps reduce our dependency on oil and our carbon footprint and this is just the beginning stages of it. I'm excited to see where we are in the next two to three years," added Fisher.