Manufacturer does safety testing south of Hollister
Tesla Motors, the electric vehicle manufacturer that plans to
operate the only auto assembly plant in California, has applied for
a permit to do periodic safety testing of electric vehicle
components 20 miles south of Hollister in rural San Benito
County.
”
The testing is exceeding some of the standards for visible
emissions [smoke]. So they’re requesting from our hearing board a
relaxation of the visible emission limits,
”
said David Frisbee, a spokesman for the Monterey Bay Unified Air
Pollution Control District.
Manufacturer does safety testing south of Hollister
Tesla Motors, the electric vehicle manufacturer that plans to operate the only auto assembly plant in California, has applied for a permit to do periodic safety testing of electric vehicle components 20 miles south of Hollister in rural San Benito County.
“The testing is exceeding some of the standards for visible emissions [smoke]. So they’re requesting from our hearing board a relaxation of the visible emission limits,” said David Frisbee, a spokesman for the Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District.
The testing will be “infrequent,” perhaps once a month, and no more than 30 minutes per day, Frisbee said, indicating that the testing will likely be done on a concrete pad at an undisclosed location.
The hearing board, which is a separate entity from the air district, will decide at a public hearing on Nov. 16 whether to grant Tesla the long-term variance of up to a year to conduct the testing.
“It may or may not cause smoke,” Frisbee said, noting that the testing is safety related, perhaps having to do with traffic situations. “It’s not a definite thing that smoke will be released, but occasionally it will be.”
When smoke is released into the atmosphere for a certain amount of time by certain activities, permits are required. For example, an open field burn or burning of agricultural debris does not have visible emission limits, but the emissions from smokestacks and sand blasting, for example, are regulated.
The air district would have the opportunity to send an inspector to Tesla’s testing area to observe whether the emissions meet standards, though that is not required.
A Tesla spokeswoman said she would look into the details of the testing and respond to The Pinnacle earlier this week, but she did not reply in time for the newspaper’s deadline.
Frisbee said that the testing location is in a “remote” area because the company “doesn’t want to bother people” and that the company is “sensitive to disclosing” the location of its facility, which does not have a mailing address on file with the air district.
A staff report being prepared in advance of the public hearing, which will be held at 9:30 a.m. in the air district’s third floor board room at 24580 Silver Cloud Court in Monterey, will “make recommendations to the hearing board about the kind of limitations that need to be in place to be adequately protective of public health and the environment,” Frisbee said.
The goal, he noted, “is that it’s not a free-for-all releasing smoke; limiting it to infrequent occurrences and a limited amount of smoke generation.”
Tesla Motors recently announced that it purchased the former NUMMI factory in Fremont in order to operate the first facility dedicated exclusively to the mass production of electric vehicles.
The Model S, which the company calls “the first electric premium sedan designed from the ground up,” will travel more than 300 miles per charge when using an optional extended-range battery pack, according to a company news release. Production is expected to begin within 12 to 18 months using 500 workers.
The company hopes to eventually employ 5,000 people, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Tesla has delivered more than 1,300 Roadster electric vehicles to customers in North America.
