The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) continues to improve the sustainability of its fleet by leasing a handful of all-electric Nissan LEAF plug-in electric vehicles (PEV) for official state use.

The five new PEVs will soon make their way to WSDOT offices, according to WSDOT Fleet Administrator Greg Hansen, with the Northwest Region headquarters receiving two LEAFs, and one each going to headquarters in Olympia, Tumwater, and Vancouver. WSDOT is also installing 220-volt, Level-2 chargers at all four offices, which deliver full charges in four to eight hours.

In 2012, WSDOT became the first state agency in Washington to acquire a Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid. To help advance PEV technology acceptance, WSDOT this year purchased the first state-owned all-electric vehicle and began a pilot project to negotiate a state contract to lease Nissan LEAFs and make them available to all state and local governments.

WSDOT’s fleet operations is expected to save $2,500 in operating costs over the lifecycle of each PEV. The fleet is gradually transitioning its gas vehicles to all-electric, plug-in hybrids, and biodiesel to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve its sustainability goals. All fleet sedans that are not yet electric or hybrid are compatible with up to 85 percent ethanol flexible fuel.