In what it says is the next step to cut costs and greenhouse-gas emissions, the City of Bellevue, Wash., has added three Chevy Volts to its fleet.

According to Bellevue, incorporating electric vehicles into its fleet is part of broader environmental and economic actions that the city has taken through its Environmental Stewardship Initiative. Steadily replacing gas cars with hybrids over the past several years, the city reports that it now has 120 hybrids, more than half of the 230 passenger vehicles in its fleet.

Bellevue says that having a large portfolio of high-efficiency vehicles saves the city more than $100,000 and 30,000 gallons of gasoline each year, and reduces annual fleet carbon-dioxide emissions by 250 metric tons.

"We are not only being good stewards of our environment but also of tax dollars by gradually transitioning to a cleaner, greener fleet," says Bellevue Mayor Conrad Lee. "We are walking the talk, and showing our community that it is feasible to use greener cars."

To encourage hybrid and electric car usage, the city installed 14 public charging stations throughout Bellevue in late 2011. In addition, six new stations will be installed at city facilities to accommodate the fleet vehicles.

The city notes that it purchased the Chevy Volts with the help of a federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant.