Sales of electric vehicles are finally showing promise, with predictions showing the vehicles making up to 7% of the light vehicle market by 2020. Though consumers will undoubtedly find value in ditching gas, it also seems that the U.S. government could cut costs by using electric vehicles as well.

Market research firm Navigant Research today released a report estimating that the U.S. Department of Defense will buy more than 92,400 electric vehicles by the end of the decade. This number represents an increase in the current rate at which the department is acquiring electric vehicles. Navigant also states that the U.S. military is “one of the largest supporters” of electric vehicles and other alternative fuels.

“In remote theaters of operations, the cost of moving fuels to forward military locations can be a multiple of the cost of the fuel itself,” said Scott Shepard, research analyst at Navigant. “The military’s approach to reducing fossil fuel consumption from non-tactical operations includes acquiring increasing numbers of vehicles powered by ethanol blend and biodiesel blend fuels; but the majority of the investment will go toward HEVs (hybrid electric vehicles and PEVs (plug-in electric vehicles).”

The U.S. military is expected to use these electric vehicles in non-tactical roles only. Navigant speculates that militaries could use electric vehicles along with vehicle-to-grid solutions to help make base operations more energy efficient and to provide an extra source of power backup.