The vehicles – which form Nissan’ssingle largest order of its LEAF EV in Australia – will replace the council’s former fleet of 10 Toyota Prius petrol-electric hybrid cars, and will be used by a range of City employees, including building and health inspectors, town planners and engineers.

The City of Sydney became the first council in Australia to achieve formal certification as carbon-neutral under the National Carbon Offset Standard in November 2011, as a result of its benchmark greenhouse gas reduction programs.

‘The advantage of a car like this is, in terms of parking, it's a real issue in the city, and reducing congestion. Congestion is currently costing us AUD$4 billion (USD $4.1 billion) a year, so we have to look at every possible way of reducing it,’ said Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore.

The City has installed seven electric charging stations at its public parking stations in Kings Cross and Goulburn Street.

Carbon emissions from charging the electric vehicles will be offset by zero-carbon electricity produced by solar panels installed on City buildings. In total, the City is installing 5,500 solar panels on 30 of its buildings, including Town Hall House, public buildings, major depots and additional solar panels for electric vehicle charging offsets, the largest building-mounted solar installation in Australia.

‘The other thing I hope it will do is to set an example to tiers of government. I'd like to see the federal government fleet in Canberra, I'd like to see the state government fleet in Macquarie Street using sustainable vehicles,’ said the Lord Mayor.