A Sacramento businessman is hoping to launch what would be Clark County's first entirely electric-powered taxicab fleet, the Nevada Taxicab Authority was told Tuesday.

Robert Kittell, chairman of ElectriCab Taxi Co., has been operating a one-van "proof of concept" service in his hometown since 2002 and wants to expand here. To do so, he must gain the Taxicab Authority's blessing. He said he will file an operating application soon.

"We've had phenomenal marketplace acceptance in Sacramento," Kittell said Tuesday after the Taxicab Authority's monthly meeting. "We see this region as one that would benefit greatly from a zero-emissions taxicab fleet."

Kittell's existing service uses a Ford Windstar minivan retrofitted with an electric engine. "It's not a hybrid. It's not a flexi-fuel vehicle. It's not a golf cart," he said. "This is the real deal."

Kittell, who said he was looking for investors to back him, did not say how many vehicles he would seek to deploy here. Members of the Taxicab Authority's board, whom Kittell briefly addressed Tuesday, were noncommittal.

While an all-electric cab fleet would be a first for Las Vegas, an alternative-fuel fleet would not be. Most cabs operated by the valley's largest cab provider, Yellow Checker Star Transportation, run on propane instead of gasoline.

Once formally filed, Kittell's application to run a new cab company would be one of two such applications being considered. The Taxicab Authority already is looking at the application of owners of Nellis Cab Co. and Desert Cab Co. and a manager of Nellis, who want to create City Cab Co.

Nellis and Desert are already in business. Currently, 16 cab fleets run in the valley.