Marion will soon turn over a new "Leaf" when it comes to energy savings – in an electric car that’s easy on the environment and taxpayers.

On Friday afternoon, Selectmen authorized a lease agreement with Mastria Nissan in Raynham for an all-electric Nissan Leaf for municipal use.

Acting Town Administrator Judy Mooney estimated the car would be zipping around town streets within a few weeks. The car’s retail value is $32,000, and it has a range of 84 miles on a single charge.

Using the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s Electric Vehicle Incentive Program grant, the town earned $15,000 for the car and possibly two charging stations: $7,500 will be used to lease the car and $7,500 to purchase the charging stations. If a pair of charging stations cost too much, Mooney said only one will be purchased.

Members of the Marion Energy Management Committee approached Selectmen with the proposal in November after seeing Dartmouth’s success with the program. That town secured three all-electric BMWs with the grant.

The grant includes a dealer incentive, state tax credit and a federal tax incentive.

“It’s a grant the federal government has been pushing for the last few years. They’re basically giving them away.” said Selectman Jody Dickerson.

Selectmen haven’t settled on which town agency will receive the car yet, though the Marion Recreation Department is in the running along with the Department of Public Works.

Initially, town officials hoped to secure three cars and three charging stations, but there wasn't enough grant money. Officials haven’t ruled out applying for future grants that would bring additional cars and charging stations to town.

“Our Energy Committee here in town would like to see more,” Mooney said.

Before the Selectmen’s vote, Finance Committee Chair Alan Minard posed a few questions related to Marion’s potential “future financial obligations” regarding the lease.

Mooney explained that there were no penalties related to mileage as there are with some leased cars. Also, the town would have the option of purchasing the car after the lease period for an estimated $400.

The town could see substantial fuel and repair savings over the three-year lease period.

Currently, municipal cars are repurposed Ford Crown Victoria’s that were first used as Marion police cruisers.

At a previous meeting, Energy Committee member Norm Hills said he calculated the fueling savings for an electric car over a one-year period to be $1,200.

In addition to the fiscal benefits, Energy Committee member Jennifer Francis said leasing the car would raise awareness for environmental issues and promote use of electric vehicles.

To that end, anyone from the public can plug their electric car into the charging station, which was part of the grant agreement.