Business

Tesla Motors CEO taking tips from one Southold couple

Elon Musk — show here at the Tesla Grand Opening in 2008 — has promised $1 million to a Shoreham-based group hoping to build a museum dedicated to Nikola Tesla. (Credit: Brian Solis, Creative Commons)
Elon Musk — show here at the Tesla Grand Opening in 2008 — has promised $1 million to a Shoreham-based group hoping to build a museum dedicated to Nikola Tesla. (Credit: Brian Solis, Creative Commons)

For most, it’s not easy to get the attention of the CEO of a publicly traded company.

But one Southold couple managed to do just that this week. 

Who they are remains a question, but “Two VERY highly satisfied Tesla owners from Southold, N.Y.” took out a full-page ad in the Palo Alto Weekly last Friday, writing an open letter to Tesla CEO Elon Musk with a few pointers on what he should consider doing to improve the cars and the brand as a whole.

He responded the next day on Twitter, stating that “many of the suggestions will be implemented soon.”

Mr. Musk’s tweet was retweeted over 1,400 times, and favorited by over 2,500 of his 862,000 followers.

The motor company — named after famed scientist Nikola Tesla, whose final laboratory is located in Shoreham — was founded in 2003, and is headquartered in Palo Alto. Mr. Musk recently paid homage to the company’s namesake this past July, when the businessman offered a $1 million donation to a local nonprofit  raising funds to build a museum at Wardenclyffe, the Shoreham lab.

Mr. Musk has yet to reveal which of the changes noted in the ad the company will make. Among those offered were: including blind spot monitors, resizing the sun visor to accommodate shorter drivers, and beefing up promotion of the company. They also want the cup holder moved forward.