A tweet asking for a donation from Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk to the Tesla Museum received a surprise response from the entrepreneur, who donated $1 million to the museum on the 158th birthday of Nicola Tesla. It was part of a funding effort by the Tesla Science Center to continue to make the museum a place for research and learning.
Cartoonist Matthew Inman sent the tweet to Musk and revealed that the billionaire called Inman later to pledge the one million dollars to the museum and to put in place a Tesla "supercharger" station in the parking lot, which will enable drivers of the luxury electric vehicles to charge up while visiting the museum of their car's namesake.
Inman, of Oatmeal.com, has been leading the fundraising drive for the Science Center and this is one of his biggest successes.
"$1 million from Elon Musk! And a supercharging station! Thank you, Mr. Musk!!!" wrote Tesla Science Center on Twitter. Inman confirmed that amount on Facebook.
Inman has been instrumental in the museum's development and creation. In 2012, he raised over one million dollars on the crowdfunding site Indiegogo aimed at using an old building in Shoreham, New York, the site of Tesla's last laboratory, as the site of the museum. But it still needs around eight million dollars to refurbish the entirety of the structure.
It was at this location in 1901 that Tesla began sending messages and electric power across the world via wireless transmission. He was never able to finish the project.
To try and get more funding, Inman reached out to Musk for a donation via the popular micro-blogging site.
".@elonmusk I wrote a review of my Model S, and then asked you for a little favor here https://theoatmeal.com/comics/tesla_model_s ..." asked Inman.
Musk responded: "@Oatmeal I would be happy to help."
And the appeal appears to have worked, and the museum is one million dollars closer to finishing their project and getting everything in order. For Musk, it is a positive PR move as he attempts to take Tesla Motors across the country, even as disputes over the retail selling of the vehicle has hit some snags this year in the Eastern part of the country.
Tesla refuses to go through the traditional car dealership route, instead choosing to sell directly to customers, a move that has sparked tension among car dealer owners, especially in New Jersey.
