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Enlarge / An expanded settlement on Mars in the late 2020s, as envisioned by Mars One. (credit: Mars One)

The Mars One project launched in 2011 with the grand ambition of establishing a permanent human settlement on Mars. Since that time, it has winnowed a large field of would-be astronauts to 100 and garnered considerable public attention. What the initiative has not done is raise significant funding to enable its vision—of the $6 billion Mars One estimates it needs to create a settlement, it has collected only about $1 million from merchandise sales, donations, and astronaut applications.

But now Mars One says it has a plan to address that fundraising difficulty. On Monday the Netherlands-based Mars One and Switzerland based InFin Innovative Finance AG announced a reverse merger in which InFin will acquire Mars One, and the combined entity will change its name to Mars One Ventures AG. This will effectively make the Mars One venture eligible for trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

"This step provides the opportunity to raise capital through the listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange," explained Bas Lansdorp, CEO and cofounder of Mars One, in a news release. "Our global followers will have the opportunity to be part of this adventure and to literally own a piece of this historic venture. We have a solid business based on our historical performance that might be of interest to anyone looking for diversification of their investment portfolio."

Enlarge (credit: Tesla)

On Monday morning, Tesla announced that new electric vehicles ordered after January 1, 2017 will not have unlimited free access to its network of Supercharger stations. The company began rolling out its network of fast-charging stations four years ago, with free unlimited access for Model S and Model X owners (although at one point it was a $2,500 option for the base Model S EV). Earlier this year we learned that those 400,000+ buyers of the new Model 3 EV would not have unfettered access to the Supercharger network. Now it appears that limit will apply to the more expensive vehicles in its range as well.

While the details have not been fully revealed yet, Tesla says that from next year, new vehicles will only get the first 400kWh each year for free—after that point the cost of electricity will be passed on to the owner.

Prices per kWh will vary regionally, but Tesla says it does not intend the Supercharger network to ever become a profit center. At the same time, this move isn't suddenly going to cause owning a Tesla to become as expensive as owning other $100,000 vehicles. Using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' energy prices, at a national average of 14¢ per kWh, we think it unlikely that, even with overheads, a full Supercharge would cost more than $20.