Mayor Greg Nickels said that the city of Seattle will receive $1.4 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to enhance the city’s fleet of green vehicles and install electric car charging stations throughout the city.

The funding is part of a $15 million grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act awarded to the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency’s Clean Cities Coalition. The grant is specifically for alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles.

Seattle will receive:

- Fifteen diesel/electric work trucks, which will save more than 10,000 gallons of diesel fuel per year and reduce carbon emissions by more than 112 tons annually. This will also help the manufacturer ramp-up production and drive down the price of hybrid systems in the mass market.

- $500,000 for installation of electric vehicle charging stations at city-owned properties.

“We envision a future of charging stations instead of filling stations, where clean hydro-electric power fuels our transportation system instead of oil. This is another step to making that future a reality,” said Nickels in a statement. “Working together, this region won a competitive grant from the federal government, proving that we are on the cutting edge of advanced vehicles.”

Earlier this month, Nickels announced that the U.S. Department of Energy had granted the Electric Transportation Engineering Corporation (eTec) about $20 million to establish up to 2,550 charging systems for electric vehicles in the Seattle area.

In April, Nickels and Nissan North America signed an agreement to make Seattle one of the first markets to introduce Nissan's LEAF – a zero-emission, all-electric car. In return, Seattle pledged to take regulatory and other steps to get ready for the arrival of Nissan's electric car in October 2010.

According to Nissan, the LEAF will go 100 miles on a single charge and be priced in the range of a typical family sedan.

To track the city's progress as it seeks federal stimulus funds, visit recovery.seattle.gov.