Tesla Motors pays $275k fine for lacking of emissions testing

[Piwoslaw]

Tesla Motors pays huge fine for lacking emissions Certificate of Conformity

[Daox]

Thats just ridiculous.

[dcb]

ridiculous, yes, still probably a lot cheaper than getting a gasser to conform (including "r&d" time).

[Christ]

Does the regulation only apply to tailpipe emissions, or does it also apply to other conformities, such as VOC content of potentially harmful compounds used in production, recyclable content, etc.

Regardless, they complied in 2008... So why not 2009?

If their intention was to get away from having to pay for the regulatory certificate, there are much better ways than assumed immunity from a statute... They should have complied anyway, then lobbied to have the regulation altered so that they didn't have to comply further, so that the responsible agency (in this case EPA) could accurately determine whether or not the company was actually exempt from all, or only parts of the statute/regulation.

[Automcdonough]

I think it's a matter of filling the right coffers for all the testing and other BS

[Christ]

Originally Posted by Automcdonough

I think it's a matter of filling the right coffers for all the testing and other BS

Not claiming such to you, but this is exactly what some members of my family say when they have exactly zero clue what they're talking about.

To them, it's always about lining someone's pocket. They seldom look at the full story behind why something happened.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by Christ

Not claiming such to you, but this is exactly what some members of my family say when they have exactly zero clue what they're talking about.

To them, it's always about lining someone's pocket. They seldom look at the full story behind why something happened.

The full story is some moron followed the letter of the law instead of the intent of the law thinking they were a big man resulting in a bogus fine.

Whomever pushed the issue forward should be drug out into the street and shot, some degree of common sense needs to be enforced on regulatory bodies and the many times idiotic individuals that populate them.

Generally regulatory groups rarely have people of proper background and experience in them, usually the individuals get a party line position granted them, making the groups unnecessarily bias;d The EPA still suffers from Bushisms and has not been completely cleared out of people with conflicts of interest, much like the FDA is full of drug company cronies.

Once again our government is trying to ban certain foods as prescription only and ban your abiity to grow food at home without a license. At some point laws have to be ignored and disobeyed when they are being pushed forth by individuals who apparently hate the common good.

Also this particular law is NOT uniformly enforced, some companies go decades without proper certifications and are conveniently overlooked, like most things, it depends more on who you are, not what you've done.

An example is Iowa, many small time farms, dairies etc get raided repeatedly for illegal immigrants working there but the largest food processors usually go for decades without being inspected. Obviously neither is right but why should the largest groups that break the law most blatantly be ignored before mom & pop?

Cheers
Ryan

[Phantom]

Okay EPA we see your fine are will raise it three more zeros to that number if you can shove it up out tail pipe.

EPA our testing has shown your car has worst MPGs on the market at a rating of "Err"mpg we drove 200mi and could not put any gas in it. As every one knows 200mi/0g=Err.
Drives away in a under-inflated Hummer with a hot-tub in the back being heated by a pull behind generator.

[Automcdonough]

Originally Posted by Christ

To them, it's always about lining someone's pocket. They seldom look at the full story behind why something happened.

At least the EPA has good intentions. Despite all the wrongs they have caused I believe it to be collateral damage, not conspiracy.
I may not be verse with the law in all states, but if there's one thing I'm sure of it's that CARB is a complete racket. I pity anyone modifying a car in CA.

Was this particular case a complete money grab? hard to say, but I don't think anyone is this dense to apply that law out of the blue. I'd put money on a union or rival car company stirring up this trouble.

[Christ]

Originally Posted by Automcdonough

At least the EPA has good intentions. Despite all the wrongs they have caused I believe it to be collateral damage, not conspiracy.
I may not be verse with the law in all states, but if there's one thing I'm sure of it's that CARB is a complete racket. I pity anyone modifying a car in CA.

Was this particular case a complete money grab? hard to say, but I don't think anyone is this dense to apply that law out of the blue. I'd put money on a union or rival car company stirring up this trouble.

I don't think they applied it out of the blue, as you say.

Remember, Tesla was certified in 2008, and failed to apply in 2009.

This suggests that Tesla Motors knew that they should have been certified, understood the law regarding that particular certification, and most probably knew that they'd be fined if it came to light that they did not certify, or appeal the certification charter.

Keywords: Appeal the certification charter. They could very well have done this. That's why we have a court system. If you don't agree with something in the law, you take it to court. You hash it out, and you get it fixed. You don't just sit there and assume that because you don't have a tailpipe, that you don't have to pass a compound emissions certification, because that's simply arrogant.

Once again. Has anyone actually checked into the statute underwhich they were fined? Can anyone certify beyond the shadow of a (reasonable) doubt that all we're talking about here is tailpipe emissions certification?

Can anyone say for sure that the same certification for which Tesla Motors was fined doesn't include paragraphs about potentially hazardous compounds, recyclable percentage of material, etc? And even if those things are included, and if TM would have passed those sections of the statute, they still failed to comply.

Just cuz you CAN do your homework, but didn't, doesn't mean you still get to pass the grade.