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There's a lot of odd, unauthorized Elon Musk gear out there

A strong personality like Elon Musk's, especially one that also happens to head some very successful companies, brings with it all kinds of perks and penalties and, well, some odd "benefits." What you're looking at above is a 12-gallon fish tank clock - called an "aqua clock" - that houses a picture of Musk, and you can get it on Zazzle for the eminently fair price of 48 British pounds ($77 US). A single Internet search turns up scads of results of Musk-associated merchandise, one of the most popular being Tesla's own apparel shop; in 2013 it was reported that the company pulls in millions just on jackets, shirts, and water bottles, and the SpaceX shop adds its own icing. A revenue stream like that is going to get some more personal company, which is why Zazzle also offers more than 100 different kinds of Musk-themed merchandise beyond that aqua clock, RedBubble has a couple of dozen offerings, Threadsquad throws in the singular "Elon Musk is my homeboy" tee and even Amazon rocks a poster page for the EV rock star. The man is also used to sell unrelated products. CosmeSys hair transplants, for example. All this for a man who needs no promotion assistance. If the Model 3 does what's promised, we're guessing it will lead to one piece of merch that is so far missing from the pile: the Mighty Musk action figure. News Source: Zazzle, RedBubble, Threadsquad, Tesla Motors Club Auto News Design/Style Green Marketing/Advertising Tesla merchandise t-shirt

Tesla investor says selling 500,000 EVs in 2020 is totally doable

Tesla Motors may make good on chief Elon Musk's claim of selling a half-million vehicles a year by the end of the decade, Motley Fool says. Of course, the author of the Foolish report in question owns Tesla shares but, now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's check out the logic. Tesla moved almost 22,500 Model S vehicles last year and it was the best-selling plug-in vehicle in the US during the fourth quarter. The company expects to sell about 35,000 this year but the rate of global sales could be double that by the end of the year. From then on out, it's all about economies of scale, with demand mushrooming overseas, costs dropping as a result of the company's slated "gigafactory" and the introduction of the $35,000-ish Model E by 2017. Add it all up, and you can get to 500,000 EVs a year, the Fool says. Late last month, Tesla disclosed details about its gigafactory, saying it will be fed by sun- and wind power, will employ about 6,500 people and will produce those half-million battery packs a year. Between the company and its partners, as much as $5 billion will be invested in the plant, which is slated to be somewhere in the southwestern US (but not in its native California). To put those projected half-million vehicles in perspective, let's look at the unquestioned champion of the green car movement for the past decade, the Toyota Prius and its many Toyota and Lexus gas-electric siblings. It's taken many years to get to this point, but Toyota can now sell about a million hybrids around the world in nine months.

Michigan Gov. signs 'anti-Tesla' bill, but says rules could change *UPDATE

*UPDATE: GM has issued a statement in support of the governor's actions. We've added it below. Don't look for a Tesla store in Detroit anytime soon. Even though the company says a Motor City service center is "Coming Soon," another hurdle was placed in the company's way today when Governor Rick Snyder signed House Bill 5606 into law. The law was introduced by State Representative Aric Nesbitt, who said it is not "anti-Tesla at all." Still, 5606 does clarify and strengthen the state's laws against an automaker selling vehicles directly to consumers, which is why Tesla called on its supporters last week to ask Snyder not to sign the bill into law. That didn't work. The bill passed the Michigan legislative chambers with overwhelming support last week (106-1 in the House, 38-0 in the Senate) and Snyder said that his team's research found it "doesn't change current law at all." He nonetheless thought it was worth signing, and you can watch him explain why in the video below. He also mentions a letter he attached to the bill saying he's open to future discussions regarding direct vehicle sales. He does not mention his campaign support from numerous auto dealers. We have asked Tesla for a comment on this latest development and will let you know when we hear back. Last week, the California automaker called the legislation "harmful to consumers." This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Gov. Rick Snyder signs bipartisan bill clarifying existing direct auto sales law Calls for healthy, open discussion on potential changes to business model; also signs one other bill into law Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014 LANSING, Mich. – Gov. Rick Snyder today signed bipartisan legislation that clarifies and strengthens an existing law about direct auto sales in Michigan. House Bill 5606, sponsored by state Rep. Aric Nesbitt, also prohibits auto manufacturers from dictating fees franchised dealers can charge customers. The legislation allows individual auto dealers to make the business decision whether to charge the transaction fee. The bill was approved by 38-0 in the state Senate, and 106-1 in the state House of Representatives. Snyder said Tuesday there has been a misunderstanding about the legislation.