O’Connor Management LLC of New York City is seeking approval from the Town of Poughkeepsie to construct a new electric motor vehicle repair facility for Tesla on an undeveloped 4.4-acre tract along Route 9D, near the Route 9 and Route 9D intersection in the Town of Poughkeepsie, across from the entrance to The Shoppes at South Hills. The facility would be used by Tesla to service electric vehicles is has manufactured and sold.
O’Connor Management is the contract vendee for the property, which is owned by Socker Spring Park LLC. The proposed project includes a one-story, 20,500-square-feet showroom, office, and service building with 14 service bays. There would be 140 parking spaces. Twenty-five spaces would be for courtesy/loaner cars that would be parked behind a security fence.
LaBella Engineering of Poughkeepsie, which has been working on the proposal, said that the facility would be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, and that Tesla anticipates a maximum of 50 appointments per day at the motor vehicle repair facility.
LaBella said that vehicles brought in for service would be driven into the facility via the north side service bay doors and handed off to Tesla’s service employees. After a brief check-in, Tesla staff would bring vehicles to one of the eight lifts or six flat stalls if an open space is available. If not, vehicles would be parked in the secure lot at the rear of the building and brought into the facility when a work bay becomes available.
LaBella said that the site plan design includes two drop-off spaces within the building and 17 customer spaces in the parking lot in front of the building. When a customer returns for pickup, staff would bring their vehicle to the front lot for return. Customers who arrive without appointments will only have their vehicles seen if there is capacity. Otherwise, they will be told to make an appointment and turned away.
One of the major issues being scrutinized by the Town of Poughkeepsie’s Planning Board is the risk of lithium-ion battery fires.
Planning Board Member Peter Fanelli said, ”We want to see something from a credible source that says this potential can be addressed so that we can say we did our homework and we were responsible and we did our due diligence in determining that this is safe for our community.”
Joseph Cavaliere, chief of police for the Town of Poughkeepsie, said that he attended a debriefing on the investigation by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department into a January 2025 explosion and fire involving a Tesla electric vehicle.
“An important point that came to light was the equipment the Las Vegas Fire department had to handle the fire after the explosion,” Cavaliere said. “The fire department had an Electric Vehicle (EV) Fire Blanket. EV fire blankets are specialized, heavy-duty blankets designed to contain and suppress lithium-ion battery fires by smothering flames, reducing oxygen, and trapping toxic smoke. They are highly effective in allowing fire crews to manage the situation safely, can prevent the spread to adjacent vehicles, buildings, or infrastructure, minimizes the spread of harmful pollutants, provides a rapid immediate response, reduces the massive amounts of water needed and shortens the time the fire is burning.”
Cavaliere said that currently no fire department that covers the Town of Poughkeepsie has access to an EV Fire Blanket.
“An additional issue that came up was the toxic chemicals that came from the vehicle and the run off of water from the fire that contained toxic chemicals,” Cavaliere said. “I would request that Tesla not only provide training to the first responders that will be required to handle these types of incidents, but also assist in us obtaining this equipment.“
In a document submitted to the Planning Board Tesla said, “Data has shown emissions from battery fires are comparable to those of a typical house fire, and with proper training, exposure to these emissions can be safely managed. Public health agencies have consistently found no toxic health risks associated with such incidents.”
In another document, Tesla said, “The proposed Tesla facility would maintain temporary storage of battery packs at any given time for end-of-life replacement. Vehicles are thoroughly inspected for damage to the battery pack prior to entering the facility.”
Tesla said that should a vehicle with a damaged battery pack arrive at the facility, it would be isolated with 50-feet of clearance from combustible material, structures, and other exposures.
