The 10 Nissan Leaf cars will be used by a range of council teams to check their suitability. If a six-month trial of the new vehicles proves successful, the council will seek to replace a further 95 diesel vehicles with ULEV alternatives.

In addition, five e-NV200s will join the fleet in the coming weeks and the council has also invested in the installation of associated charging points at council offices, depots and other key locations.

Cllr Adam Clarke, Assistant City Mayor for energy and sustainability, said: “Increasing the number of ultra-low emission vehicles on our roads is one of the agreed actions in the city’s plan to improve air quality of the next 10 years.

“It is important that the council is seen to be leading the way by replacing our old diesel vehicles with clean, all-electric alternatives as far as possible.

“Putting these new all-electric vehicles into service across a wide range of council teams will give us the chance to thoroughly check their suitability for different uses. That will help determine how we roll this out in future months and years. We also hope it will encourage other organisations to do the same with their own fleet vehicles.”