Editor’s Note: Related tickers: Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), SolarCity Corp (NASDAQ:SCTY)
Tesla’s Elon Musk goes ‘Iron Man’ with in-thin-air, gestural design process (CNet)
As if a sexy electric car; a sideways-flying, reusable rocket ship; an 800 mph subway; and a Martian metropolis weren’t enough, mad scientist Elon Musk now wants to build an “Iron Man” suit. Well, not exactly. But the film was apparently the inspiration for Musk’s latest foray into science nonfiction. The Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) and SpaceX CEO tweeted on Friday that he and his people have “figured out how to design rocket parts just w hand movements through the air” and that next week he’ll be posting a video that demonstrates the process. Musk, of course, is the man behind the Tesla Model S, the Grasshopper laterally flying rocket, and the Hyperloop supertrain. He’s also an advocate for colonizing Mars.
The man with a plan … or two (Vegasinc)
Elon Musk, the entrepreneur behind PayPal and electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), must have a place in his heart for Las Vegas. Musk is chairman of SolarCity, a solar panel installation firm that celebrated its valley debut last week at an event attended by Sen. Harry Reid and Gov. Brian Sandoval. SolarCity Corp (NASDAQ:SCTY) sees great potential for developing solar energy in Nevada for residential rooftops and corporate buildings. It hopes to develop solar system manufacturing and distribution centers throughout Southern Nevada. Musk is making news for other ventures, as well.
China could seriously use Tesla’s electric cars: here’s why (Memeburn)
Electric car maker Tesla has started taking preorders in China and set up a Weibo page. It seems clear that someday soon, Tesla’s electric car will be navigating China’s hazardous traffic patterns — and I could not be happier about that fact. To be clear, I have no real personal stake here. I don’t live in Beijing anymore, and I certainly can’t afford one of Tesla’s expensive roadsters, especially at the inflated prices at which they’ll be offered. I just think the cars could fit a niche and actually complement China’s strengths and weaknesses in a way that could work very well.
Tesla continues to impress, outsells Porsche and Volvo in California (TweakTown)
Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is continuing to impress, as the electric car maker is currently outselling some of the biggest car manufacturers in the world in California. The California New Car Dealers Association’s latest numbers note that Tesla Motors took a nice 12% chunk of the luxury sports car category in California for the first half of 2013. This 12% cut was enough to pass the Audi A6 and Lexus GS. Tesla Motors’ Model S is the car in question, with the company selling 4,714 of the electric vehicles in the first six months of 2013. 1,097 of them were sold in June, making this number enough to beat the big boys like Porsche, Volvo, Cadillac, Buick and Land Rover for June, 2013. Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)’ Model S is pretty darn safe, too.
Tesla millionaires? (CNBC)
