It’s the first time the government has run any electric vehicles, and precedes ambitious plans to improve the efficiency of its fleet. As of 1^st January 2016, all vehicles leased or purchased by government agencies must run on an alternative fuel, including hybrid or electric, CNG or biofuel.

The US General Services Administration said in a statemen this week it was adding 101 Chevrolet Volts, 10 Nissan LEAFs and five Think City vehicles to its fleet, which will be leased to 20 agencies and five US cities. It follows a doubling of the number of hybrid vehicles on the fleet last year.

Agencies buying vehicles larger or less efficient than the guidelines allow will have to declare them on their websites. Alternative fuel vehicles are also being evaluated for the US Postal Service.

In a statement from The White House, President Obama said: ‘The Federal Government operates the largest fleet of light duty vehicles in America.  We owe a responsibility to American citizens to lead by example and contribute to meeting our national goals of reducing oil imports by one-third by 2025 and putting one million advanced vehicles on the road by 2015.

‘Living up to that responsibility means the Federal fleet should operate only as many vehicles as needed to work efficiently, leveraging Federal purchasing dollars to build manufacturing capacity for more alternative fueled vehicles, and reducing petroleum consumption through efficiency and alternative fuels.’