BELLEVUE, WA – The City of Bellevue has added three Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicles to its fleet using grant funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. According to the City, purchasing the vehicles is part of its Environmental Stewardship Initiative (ESI), and Bellevue currently operates more than 120 hybrid vehicles in its fleet. The hybrids make up more than half of the passenger vehicles in the City’s fleet (230 passenger vehicles).

The City stated that having a large number of high-efficiency vehicles saves more than $100,000 and 30,000 gallons of gasoline each year. It also reduces the fleet’s annual carbon dioxide emissions by 250 metric tons.

Beyond the vehicles, the City has also installed 14 public charging stations in 2011. The City is planning to install six new stations at City-owned facilities to accommodate the new fleet vehicles. Bellevue operates more than 50 public-use charging station locations.