The Oatmeal convinces Elon Musk to donate $1 million to Tesla Museum

In August 2012, cartoonist Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal launched a crowdfunding campaign to purchase and renovate a parcel of property containing inventor Nikola Tesla's laboratory. The lab and surrounding property had fallen into disuse and could potentially have gone to another buyer looking to transform it into retail space, but Inman's crowdfunding campaign was successful- it raised a total of $1.37 million. The money went to the nonprofit Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe organization, which purchased the property for $850,000 and used the remaining funds to start renovations.

However, it wasn't nearly enough to build the 'Tesla Museum' envisioned by Inman and the Tesla Science Center board. As Inman noted in part 2 of his ' What it's like to own a Tesla Model S' comic: 'To finish what we started and build an actual Nikola Tesla Science Center, we need something closer to the tune of $8 million.' Inman used the back half of the comic to post a polite (if a bit brazen) request directly to Tesla Motors founder and billionaire Elon Musk:

You owe us nothing, and you've done nothing but good things in the name of Nikola Tesla. But the fact remains: Tesla Motors, a company now worth billions, is using Nikola Tesla's name and they're using his technology, and all we want in return is a little bit of help....During our initial Tesla Museum fundraiser, you supported the project and donated $2,500. I'm asking you to donate again, but this time donate the full $8 million.

The pleas for money didn't come entirely from Inman either. The cartoon also contained a scan of a letter from one William H. Terbo, the last surviving relative of Nikola Tesla. The letter was polite, but it also made reference to the fact that Tesla Motors is using the 'Tesla' name without the permission of the Tesla family, and that can sometimes cause some confusion:

Just last month, I was a guest in Germany to tape a popular German Public TV program called I Bear a Famous Name. I expected a panel of questioners to quickly guess my relationship...but the panel jumped to a conclusion that it was the Tesla of the Tesla Electric Car! I have no problem with seeing the Tesla name on an automobile of outstanding quality and ingenuity....But I have worked my entire life to promote and maintain the integrity of the Tesla family name, and I feel it is my duty to ask you to support the construction of a Nikola Tesla Museum in the United States.

The cartoon quickly drew an actual response from Elon Musk on Twitter:

Once the response was posted, Ars reached out to Tesla Motors for more details on whether or not 'help' actually meant 'I'll pitch in $100' or 'I'll send you all $8 million,' but the company was unable to comment. However, The Oatmeal has now posted an update with the details: Inman eventually had the opportunity to speak to Musk on the phone, and Musk agreed to both donate $1 million to the museum and also to build a Supercharger station in the museum's parking lot.

Supercharger stations reportedly cost Tesla Motors between $150-250,000 to build, so Musk and Tesla have now committed to donating a substantial amount of capital to the project. A Supercharger station in the Tesla Museum parking lot does seem only fitting, though: you can charge your Tesla at the Tesla Museum while you learn about Tesla!