SALT LAKE CITY – The City of Midvale recently purchased an electric truck, which cost $20,000. It can carry a cargo of about half a ton, according to www.ksl.com.

Bryce Westcott, Midvale’s fleet manager, said, “We purchased this one for the meter reader, to read the water meters. And it would be good for it to be used in the parks and the cemeteries.”

Westcott put the truck through its paces on a small time-trial circuit. The vehicles have zero emissions and only goes 25 miles an hour; the maximum range on one charge is 40 miles.

“We’re going to save about $2,500 in fuel per year,” Westcott said.

The state is making it easier for county and city governments to buy electric vehicles by setting up a contract with a single dealer, Silent Green Machines. Midvale is the first to buy, but other agencies are looking into it, possibly lured by a fuel door that says no to gasoline.