Great Expectations: Attesa Leading the Charge to Make Pinal County the Center of Advanced Automotive Technology.

Rumor has it a high-tech automobile manufacturer will soon be announcing plans to open a $300 million manufacturing plant in Casa Grande, Arizona.

Attesa, the advanced technology motorsports and transportation design community just west of Casa Grande, now in the entitlement phase, is anxious to learn more.

Because have no doubt, this will be only the first of many automotive, motorcycle and new technology companies that are coming to Pinal County, many of which will be housed and/or testing at Attesa.

“Pinal County is currently in the midst of re-branding itself in order to reflect its desire to become the center of advanced automotive technology for the southwest United States,” said Tim Kanavel, Economic Development Manager for Pinal County. “The County appreciates the efforts that the Attesa race complex has done in order to get this herculean effort moving forward quickly. As the anchor point for this rebranding, Attesa will be the centerpiece for not only various types of racing but for automotive R&D and technology advancement.” 

Attesa has been planned as a multi-use facility that specifically caters to transportation development companies; specifically, those involved in electric vehicles and batteries, alternative fuels for internal combustion engines, driverless cars, new manufacturing technologies and motorsports performance.

And we’re not going to be just for giant, multi-national corporations.  Attesa will be home to scientists, engineers and technicians from manufacturers small and large, third party inventors and others – including students and teachers from colleges and universities.

Those institutions of higher learning, both local and out-of-state, will also be providing some of the skilled labor that Attesa’s high-tech tenants will require. 

“Attesa is being planned as a Silicon Valley -type headquarters for advanced vehicle design,” said Patrick Johnson, President of Attesa.  “We’re building a community centered around direct access to a private testing circuit so companies can research, develop and measure their products in real time, in real world conditions, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all year ‘round.”

There is an expansive cadre of different technology types that might be housed at Attesa.

For internal combustion engine manufacturers, including companies developing CNG (Compressed Natural Gas), LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) and LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) engines, Attesa can accommodate R&D and testing toward creating fuel products that serve the public without damaging the planet.

Including the newest concept in fuel technology: ethanol that comes from carbon dioxide, or CO2.

“Scientists at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee were investigating how to convert the greenhouse gas most responsible for climate change into something useful,” said Dan Erickson, Member/Manager of Attesa.  “They ran it through a process involving electricity, water, carbon and copper and got ethanol.  The process is still in the experimental stage but it’s indicative of the kind of research some companies can and will be doing at Attesa.”

There are other engine design variations that use internal combustion to create rotational action.  One is a piston-less rotary called a wave disk generator; it uses 60 percent of its fuel energy for propulsion as opposed to standard car engines that use about 15 percent.  Then there are camless or free-valve engines that use electromagnetic, hydraulic or pneumatic actuators to open and close the intake and exhaust valves.  Plus HCCI engines, essentially a hybrid internal combustion design that combines the operating principles of both gas and diesel engines.

All of the above, including tire, suspension, climate control and even paint and upholstery products can be developed and tested at Attesa.  As well as electric vehicle technology, i.e. batteries, motors, controllers, fuel cells, chassis design/materials and more.

And autonomous, driverless cars, trucks and busses using LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology.  Originally developed by NASA and the U.S. Military almost 50 years ago, LIDAR systems are the logical advancement of sonar and radar in surveying technology.  But instead of using sound or radio waves, LIDAR uses laser light pulses.  Carmakers are now leveraging LIDAR capabilities in their quest to engineer the safest self-driving vehicles possible.

Attesa is destined to be a headquarters for all types of advanced technology.  Just as importantly, Attesa has plans to be developed and built using LEED certifications to verify the community’s ‘green’ features, allowing for the design, construction, operations and maintenance of resource-efficient, high-performing, healthy, cost-effective buildings and infrastructure grids.

This means Attesa can responsibly select all materials necessary to building a cutting edge -efficient community; from walls, foundations, roofs and floor coverings to wood, fixtures, wallboard and HVAC systems. We’ll be able to offer homes and commerce property with LED lighting or better yet, natural light throughout; low flow water fixtures, solar water heating and photovoltaic electricity generation; power and water storage, passive solar architecture options; dynamic electrochromic glass which allows building occupants to control the amount of light and heat allowed through the glazing from their cell phones.

Of course, one of Attesa’s most visible and iconic features will be our planned solar canopied plaza, a 300-ft. wide, 2500-ft. long promenade that will take full advantage of the abundant, energy-producing sunshine typical to the Casa Grande area in the heart of the Arizona Sun Corridor.

Inside and out, from research, industrial and commerce facilities to race tracks and ‘Garage Majals’ to the entire infrastructure, Attesa will truly be a bellwether advanced technology development in the American southwest.