| Biography Will is a former resident of Palo Alto and lived there since 1960, though, his grandfather moved to Palo Alto in 1917 purchasing a home there in 1918 which is still in the Beckett family (his aunt Dorothy lives there). He now lives in the Rio Del Mar area of Aptos with his wife, Jill, and youngest daughter Elaine. His oldest daughter lives in Ireland with her husband Dan Oakes. Will was an employee of Hewlett-Packard Co responsible for Information Systems Support for their Legal Department (resume'). He drove an electric Blazer he purchased in August of 1994 and as of July 2000, had driven this car 40,200 miles. As of August of 2005, he has accumulated over 30,000 miles on the Solectria Force. Much of his driving is local to Palo Alto including a 2 mile commute during bad weather but will ride his e-bike to work most of the time. When the car is left at home, his wife, Jill, will use it during the day, leaving the gas car locked in the garage. Frustrated by having to use a gasoline powered car instead of his bicycle on days when he had meetings in other parts of town, Will found the Blazer listed on an electric vehicle e-mail list and purchased it. He now finds that he puts more miles on this electric car per year than the family gasoline powered car. After selling his Blaser and he purchased a 1999 Solectria Force which he and his wife now use in Aptos. As an employee of Hewlett-Packard Co of 30 years, Will enjoyed the use of a special parking spot for his car. A benefit offered to all Hewlett-Packard Co. employees that own electric cars. There are several other HP employees in the US that drive electric and HP makes use of a fleet of electric golf carts at its Palo Alto campus for delivery and maintenance between their buildings. Now Will is self employed running a company called Beckett PC Solutions, supporting PCs in the home. He has also added an electric bike to his vehicle mix and he uses this for most of his business calls. Will lives in the Rio Del Mar neighborhood. While in Palo Alto he served as the Environmental Action Chairperson for the PTA Council, promoting not only electric cars but the use of resources and how best to teach our children about the limited supply and the effects our actions have on the environment. He has also taken advantage of Palo Alto's PV incentive program and purchased a 3,000 watt solar system which supplied 1/3 of his total annual power. Details about this system appear in an article he wrote for Home Power Magazine #78 He now has a 4KW system on his home in Aptos that produces more electricity than he is using even with the electric car and electric bike. Will has been very active politically and has served on the Comprehensive Plan Advisory committee as a co-chair, was the president of the Barron Park Association for nine years, and is a member of the Community Focus Resource Team that has been responsible for a Try Transit campaign which has organized event shuttles for Palo Alto for three years. Recognized by the Bay Area, Clean Air Partnership for his efforts to help organize the Electric Vehicle Rally of 1996 at Stanford University, Will continues to help organize this annual event (the largest of its kind in northern California) bringing together a wide selection of electric vehicle for display to the public. Will first joined the Electric Auto Association (link) in the mid 1970's and became active when he purchased his first electric car in 1994. He currently serves as national membership chair. He served as president of the Silicon Valley Chapter of the Electric Auto Association,
one of five chapters in the San Francisco Bay Area and is currently a board member
of the national organization, and as membership chair. Recently recognized by
the Bay Area Air Quality Management District for its efforts to educate the public
about alternative fueled vehicles. He is surving now as the VP of the Central Coast Chapter of the EAA. Currently he is vice president of the Central Coast Chapter of the EAA and still membership chair for the Electric Auto Association. | ||
The new Force has arrived, at long last, 7/27/2000
| Will
Beckett’s Solectria Force
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Will also volunteers as a supernumerary for .jpg)
