Electric cars get a legislative push from California’s Jerry Brown

California Governor Jerry Brown, a self-proclaimed crusader against climate change and major backer of electric cars, signed a bundle of bills this weekend aimed at tipping the scales further in favor of zero-emission vehicles.

The main piece of legislation, called the Charge Ahead California Initiative, sets a target of putting at least a million zero-emission or near-zero-emission vehicles on the state’s roads by 2023.

How China is keeping a lid on U.S. gas prices

China is now exporting gasoline. The world’s most populous nation, with its once-booming economy and voracious appetite for energy, had more refined petroleum products on its hands last month than it needed, so it put them on the global market.

It’s a remarkable turning point, and says several things about China, the second-biggest consumer of oil behind the United States, and the oil market at large.

Guess who owns the world’s only purple Tesla?

Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin is the owner of the world’s only purple Tesla, USA Today reported. Surprised?

When he’s on leave from Westeros, Martin cruises around town in his purple Tesla, which he had custom painted, he told USA Today on the Emmys red carpet Monday. “It’s the only purple Tesla in the world,” he said.

Elon Musk says Tesla will make some changes suggested in advertisement

After a couple from Long Island took out a full-page ad in a Palo Alto weekly newspaper to propose changes in Tesla Motors Inc. cars, CEO Elon Musk said Monday that some of the suggestions will be implemented.

In the Friday ad, titled “open letter to Elon Musk, automotive visionary” and signed “two VERY highly satisfied Tesla owners from Southold, N.Y.,” the couple make suggestions from safety tips to more mundane changes.

They called for blind-spot monitors, a larger touch-screen spot to answer cellphone calls, and bringing the cup holder forward, among others. The ad was published in the Palo Alto Weekly.

Labor Day forecast: Most travelers since 2008

More U.S. residents will travel during this year’s Labor Day holiday, the most since 2008, when the recession put a damper on such jaunts, travel and leisure group AAA said Thursday.

AAA projects that 34.7 million U.S. residents will travel 50 miles or more from home during Labor Day, a 1.3% increase over 2013 numbers.

Nearly 90%, or 30 million, of the travelers will make the journey by car. About 8%, or 2.65 million, will travel by air, a 1% increase over last year.

Making the case to short Tesla, again

Inevitably, Tesla Motors, Inc.’s relentless ascent in the stock market has roused skepticism in yet another analyst firmly anchored in fundamentals.

This time the analyst, writing on Seeking Alpha  under the pen name Achilles Research, tells fellow investors that Tesla  /quotes/zigman/118681/delayed /quotes/zigman/118681/lastsale TSLA is “seriously mis-priced” (read: overpriced) and might be the perfect candidate for the “short of the decade.”

Tesla’s big week: 1 record close, up 5%, and 1,000s of investors wanting more

Is Tesla Motors Inc. /quotes/zigman/118681/delayed /quotes/nls/tsla TSLA  stock ready to hit the brakes?

Consider the kind of week Tesla has had: Shares gained more than 5% on the week. The stock was trading modestly lower on Friday, but that was after closing at a record high $261.38 on Thursday, the latest in a string of records that began Monday.

It’s been four years since gasoline was this cheap in August

Defying the historical norm, August gasoline prices nationwide are currently bumping along at a four-year low, according to the travel and leisure group AAA.

It’s the peak of driving season and conflict is raging across the Middle East, but U.S. refineries have hit record production through access to “abundant supplies” of North American crude, AAA spokesman Michael Green said.

Prices have fallen “almost every day for six weeks, which is highly unusual and the opposite of what we usually see this time of the year,” Green said.

Tesla corrals another bullish review: Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank joined the Tesla Motors Inc.  /quotes/zigman/118681/delayed /quotes/nls/tsla TSLA  bulls on Monday.

The bank upgraded Tesla’s stock to “buy” from “hold,” and increased its price target on the stock to $310 from $220.

That’s close to the top of the range for Tesla estimates, according to FactSet, and aligns Deutsche Bank with most other outfits covering Tesla.

Tesla shares are closing in on the all-time high

Only two bucks separate Tesla Motors Inc. shares from their record close set in March, as Wall Street seems to see nothing but upside for the electric car maker.

A strong production outlook for next year, a growing amount of buzz around Tesla’s upcoming Model X crossover, and the heated competition between states for the ‘gigafactory’ are some of the factors in play.

Tesla shares rose 1.6% on Thursday, recently trading at $252.63 a piece.