Vacaville:
America's EV Hometown
 Ed Huestis
(right) is a man on a mission. Almost
single-handedly, he has found nearly $1
million in federal grants to help get his
fellow citizens get into EVs, giving
Vacaville the nickname of
"Voltageville." Now all he
needs is more cars!
By Bill
Moore
An interview with Ed Huestis,
Transportation Services Administrator and
Evangelist
March 04,2001
Vacaville, California straddles US
Interstate 80 between Sacramento, the
state capitol and San Francisco. Long a
bedroom community, several high-tech
firms have set up facilities in this town
of just over 90,000. Driving through the
middle of town on the Interstate you
might not think it is much different from
other communities in America, but you'd
be wrong.
Vacaville -- often referred to with
both humor and pride as
"Voltageville" happens to have
the highest concentration of electric
vehicles per capita of any community in
Northern California. (Click
here to see T-Shirt design worn by EV
drivers in Vacaville). And if Ed
Huestis, the town's transportation
services manager, has his way, his town
will someday have the highest percentange
of EVs for its size of any city in
America... if only he can get the
vehicles.
To date, there are eight GM EV1
electric coupes in town and four Ford
Ranger EVs. Interestingly, the first
three EV1s -- besides the Gen I Huestis
leased -- where leased by school
teachers, with the help of Vacaville's
innovative grant program. As Huestis
explained to EV World, all of the
vehicles were leased using funds from a
US$300,000, federal air quality
improvement grant he procured. He has
since found an additional $600,000 to
help people in his community to buy down
the cost of their EV leases, often
reducing the monthly cost from $499 to as
low as $310.
When Huestis obtained the initial
$300,000 grant, he divided it into 35
$6,000 incentive packages totaling
US$210,000. The remaining funds were used
to install public charging and acquire
some additional EVs for the city's own
fleet needs.
Vacaville's EV incentive program would
enable 35 people in the community to get
into an EV lease who might otherwise have
been put off by the relatively high lease
costs. Before the available inventory of
EVs was exhausted, just twelve
individuals were able to take advantage
of the program, Huestis told EV World.
This not only left 23 unused incentive
packages, it also left a long list --
totaling over 100 applicants -- of
disappointed would-be EV drivers in
Vacaville. Huestis added that his list of
applicants for the program continues to
grow mainly by word-of-mouth as people in
the community learn from EV owners the
benefits of the driving a battery
electric vehicle. They too want to taken
advantage of the program.
Vacaville's EV incentive program,
which Huestis just learned prior to our
interview is this year's recipient of
CalStart/WestStart's coveted Blue Sky
Award, is designed to reduce the
incremental cost difference between
leasing a comparable gasoline vehicle and
an electric one.
"One of the requirements of this
funding is that we can't exceed what has
been determined to be the incremental
cost of the vehicle, which typically is
about half of the lease, is what industry
is telling us." He added that he had
originally intended to make each
incentive worth $8,000 but there was so
much interest in the program within his
community that he decided to spread the
funds out more. "It (the $6,000)
doesn't cover the full incremental costs,
but I felt is was enough to get people
off of the fence and into the
vehicle."
The funds can be used either as a down
payment or to help defray the taxes and
title fees on the car and the first
several months cost of the lease. The
only stipulation for becoming a program
participant is that the person must
either live or work in Vacaville, Huestis
said. He is also in the process of
setting up a similar program for the
nearby community of Dixon, population
15,000.
Huestis personally spends anywhere
from 30 minutes to one hour with each
program applicant, in his words,
"bringing them up-to-speed on the
industry and what vehicles are
available." If they decide to sign
up, he gets their email address, as well
as other pertinent information. Huestis
uses email to keep everyone on the list
updated as to the status of the program.
Most of the people who do sign-up also
take the next step of contacting the
manufacturer of choice to get on their
waiting list.
One thing that can be said for
California is that the state is certainly
trying to get EVs on the road. Prior to
Vacaville's incentive program, the
state's Air Quality Districts offered a
US$5,000 incentive package that was
already figured into the cost of each
vehicle. Since the Vacaville program, the
governor has signed into law AB2061
setting aside some US$18 million dollars
for EV incentives, which will let EV
owners apply for up to US$9,000, spread
over three years, to help offset the cost
of an EV purchase. At the time of this
writing, the legislature has yet to
authorize the funds, however.
For the citizens of Vacaville, this
means not only will the ownership costs
of an EV come down by an additional
$3,000 but it will let more people
participate in the program. Huestis
explained that under the terms of his
federal grant, he must first utilize
available funds elsewhere, like those
provided for under AB2061. Instead of
contributing the full US$6,000, he can
now contribute just $2,500, letting he
make more funds available to more people
in the community.
Vacaville: America's EV Hometown
"Vacaville residents will still
always have a better deal than anybody
else in the state," Huestis stated,
"but I'll be able to leverage the
dollars to even a greater extent and
cover even more people." He also
pointed out that he'll need those funds
because as more people drive EVs,
word-of-mouth is going to stimulate even
more interest in the community. He added
that with just thirteen privately owned
EVs in town (the 13th is a Honda EV+ that
was acquired prior to the Vacaville
program), his list of applicants is
growing rapidly, largely due to the very
positive experiences of current owners.
Huestis has compiled his own private
survey of current EV owners in town and,
"to a Œtą they are very, very
satisfied and after the end of this lease
are ready to get into another electric
vehicle," he reported. " This
is what my wife and I are experiencing...
we never want to go back to gas cars.
It's just too convenient, too much fun to
drive these vehicles and with no
maintenance to speak of and very little
operating cost, it's just a lot of fun to
drive."
This kind of experience is what's
driving the growth of Vacaville's waiting
list, that and very positive publicity in
the local press. What Huestis is also
learning from his survey and time spent
with would-be program participants is
that many of them are very interested in
owning or leasing something other than a
two passenger vehicle. What they are
telling him is they would really like
something more along the lines of the
Toyota RAV4 EV, a four-passenger,
four-door SUV-like vehicle. (We at EV
World can confirm this because we are
continually receiving requests from
people who would like to lease or own
this particular vehicle), It now appears
that, for at least some of these people,
their wish might just come true.
Just last week, Huestis was in
conversations with Toyota and it now
appears a strong likelihood that the
company will broaden the availability of
the RAV4 EV from its initial market of
fleet vehicles to small business owners.
While Huestis said he isn't sure what
Toyota will define as a "small
business" -- and probably a
"home-based business" won't
quality -- he was very encouraged and
"confident" about this
possibility.
The dozen EVs currently in operation
in Vacaville are used, as one might
expect, for commuting to and from work,
some traveling as much as 45 miles one
way. Most commute between 15 to 30 miles
a day.
The City and NEV Experience
Just before Christmas 2000, Nissan
donated three of its HyperMini EVs to the
city of Vacaville. This car is a small,
two passenger vehicle intended strictly
for use on city streets. It has a top
speed of about 55 mph and an advertised
range of 50 miles, though in real world
-- ala Vacaville -- the practical range
between recharges is about 30-35 miles,
Huestis reports. One of the vehicles --
all three are right-hand drive -- is used
by the local police department for
parking enforcement. Another is
designated for use by the community's
recycling program office for travel to
promotional and educational events in the
area. The third is used by the city's IT
department for travel to various city
facilities to maintain its computer
network.
Huestis is also working with both
Dynasty Motorcars of Canada and Global
Electric Motors of Fargo, North Dakota
(GEM was recently acquired by
DaimlerChrysler) to determine potential
markets for their lower speed
Neighborhood EVs. He is trying to
determine who on his waiting list -- and
beyond that -- would be interested in
operating this class of vehicle, which is
restricted to speeds below 25mph and
streets posted 35mph or less. He told EV
World that it was still too early in his
investigation to determine any trends or
potential market size for these vehicles.
However, he did have his Traffic
Engineering Department color a map of all
the streets in Vacaville to illustrate
the posted speeds in the community to
help determine where NEVs could safely
operate. He said it appears that most of
the streets north of I-80 are posted
30mph or less. He was also fairly certain
that laws in California now allow them to
operate on public streets, though he
admitted he still needs to confirm this
to be totally certain.
One thing seems obvious to Huestis,
most of the people on his waiting list
would prefer to own a fully-functioning,
highway-capable EV over a NEV. However,
in the absence of highway-capable
vehicles and the fact that you can't buy
them, only lease them, he thinks some of
the people on his list may choose to buy
a NEV. They can use NEVs for running
errands or for short commutes of a mile
or so in town, what he calls
"secondary trips."
"We will provide an incentive for
those vehicles, not the full $6,000.
We're looking at $3,000 which we think is
very generous from what I've seen."
He plans to advise people on the waiting
list about both the Dynasty and GEM
vehicles by email this week, asking them
to express their views and possible
interest in these vehicles. He is also
going to approach some of the high tech
companies in the community that have
campuses to ascertain their interest in
this class of vehicle, as well as city
workers who live in town.
Vacaville: America's EV Hometown
But Are There Enough Public
Chargers?
With all the current and projected EVs
that may someday be motoring cleanly
about the streets of Vacaville, does the
city have enough public chargers to meet
people's needs. Huestis immediately
responded with a long list of places
where public chargers are or will soon be
in place. He sounded confident that no
one should have a problem finding an open
charging port. (In the accompanying photo
to this article, Ed stands next to both a
conductive and inductive chargers outside
Vacaville City Hall.)
Apart from occasional use of some of
the city's EVs like the Nissan Hypermini,
Huestis, himself, is currently without an
EV. He was one of the individuals whose
Gen I EV1 was recalled by General Motors
in 1999 because of safety concerns with
the charging port. Huestis told us that
GM has informed him that the company is
right on schedule for placing back into
service all the recalled vehicles in the
first quarter of 2001, which ends this
month.
"We're seeing some information
about that, in fact it just hit yesterday
that it should start happening in the
next few days." (Note: EV World
contacted Ken Stewart's office for
confirmation, but he was out of the
office until later this week).
Whence His Calling?
One thing is certain, Ed Huestis is a
man with a mission. He explained what
drives him to expend the kind of energy
he does to promote EVs in his community.
"It all started when we entered
into (our) lease in August, 1998 for the
EV1," he stated. "Actually, I'd
been going to Clean Fuels Forums up in
the Sacramento area as part of my job, so
I was exposed to it at Ride &
Drives... I thought that maybe this was
the way I could help out to some extent.
I am not an extremist or strong
environmentalist..." Huestis is, in
fact, a Republican.
"When we took our first lease, I
was shocked. Whenever we went somewhere
shopping or whatever, being the first EV
in Vacaville, people were asking us
questions whenever we got out of the car
and they were asking questions when we
got back out to the car. And if we missed
them, there were fingerprints all over
the windows from people peering inside. I
was just amazed that people didn't even
know these cars existed, let alone that
they could get them at that time. So I
said, I need to have twenty-five people
going through what I am going through.
That was my initial goal."
"I just have a passion for
it," he continued. Huestis, himself
lives only a mile and a half from his
workplace. His wife commutes daily 40
miles to UC Davis where she is an
accountant, a drive she easily made in
the Generation One EV1 prior to its
recall. He said that if the 70% of people
who commute from Vacaville can't be
persuaded to join a car or van pool, he
at least wants them to drive a clean,
non-polluting vehicle like the EV1.
"It's been a lot of extra hours
above and beyond," Huestis
commented. "My wife can attest to
that." His one-on-one approach with
potential EV owners seems to have
guaranteed -- up to this point -- that
Vacaville's program will not repeat the
AFV incentives debacle in Arizona that
could cost the state an estimated US$200
million or more.
Vacaville: America's EV Hometown
Do BEVs Have a Future?
Given the lack of available vehicles
at present and the need for significant
government incentives to help people
"off the fence" and into EVs,
EV World wondered what the EV drivers of
Vacaville thought about the future of
battery electric vehicles. In short, do
BEV's have a place in tomorrow's
transportation system?
"Those that are driving the
battery electric vehicles truly feel that
way," Huestis observed. "We
don't even want to consider a hybrid
unless it is a plug-in hybrid. I think in
one word, we're hopeful that we'll
continue to see battery electric
vehicles, both fully functional battery
electric vehicles and then next City and
NEV. .." Huestisą only concession
to hybrid-electric vehicles is a
plug-hybrid. If these were available, he
said he'd replace his Ford Taurus with
one.
He thinks that volume production is
the ultimate answer for bringing costs
down and eventually eliminating the need
for costly government incentives.
"What I am seeing is that these
people (who currently operate an EV) are
willing to pay whatever the going rate is
at the end of their lease... within
reason. So, with more people driving the
vehicle and more exposure, the demand
itself will expand, then with the volumes
up there, the costs will naturally come
down and it will just feed itself."
It seems to be working in Vacaville,
at least. Maybe someday the city will
consider changing its name to
"Voltageville".
END STORY
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(Realaudio) Interview
Part 1
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