Vacaville has 40 charging stations, a number per capita believed to be the largest in the nation. The city also has a municipal fleet that includes 24 electric-powered vehicles. The city also used to have Edward Huestis–the reason Vacaville is becoming known as ‘Voltage-ville’–but no longer.
After working for the city of Vacaville for 17 years, Huestis retired in December. He was originally brought on to help businesses reduce the number of trips employees made to work sites, but has also worked to find grants for the city and–more recently–as manager of the city’s electric vehicle program.
Mayor Len Augustine, on Huestis’ contributions to the job:
“He didn’t just work at alternative fuel, he lives it. He’s definitely a pioneer in electric vehicles and I’ve got nothing but high praise for him. He lived and breathed his job.”
Through grants and city incentives, Huestis was instrumental in reducing the price of electric cars for Vacaville customers in 1999 and 2000.
Driving electric cars “just makes sense,” according to Edward Huestis, who was the first in Solano County to own a General Motors EV1 and who currently drives a Toyota RAV4 EV.
Although Huestis is retired, he has been contacted by major auto manufacturers and is looking forward to some consulting work.
Source: Vacaville’s electric-vehicle guru moves on – Contra Costa Times
