7 Reasons why 2017 was Elon Musk's Greatest Year
1. Restoring power to a hospital in Puerto Rico
In October 2017, Tesla (the company for which Musk is CEO), sent a solar and power storage system to power a hospital after it was left without power as a result of the devastation caused by hurricane Maria.
Hospital del Niño was bought online within days after Elon Musk personally donated £250,000 dollars to the project and also shipped a number of Tesla's Powerwall battery storage systems to help.
The Powerwall was able to store energy produced by solar panels so that it could be used during periods where no sunlight was available, which is pretty cool given that most solar systems only enable the user to take advantage of the energy produced when the sun is shining.
2. Producing the fastest road car in history (and it's electric)
Literally the fastest car in the world as of November 2017, the second-generation Tesla Roadster was launched. With blistering speeds of 0-60 in 1.9 seconds (not far off a Formula One car which has been recorded at 1.6 seconds) the all-electric sports car also boasts a range of 620 miles making range anxiety a thing of the past.
But it's not just about speed and range. Musk hopes that future versions will actually be able to fly. And if there's one thing we know about Elon Musk, it's that he is able to bring the things of the future to the modern day.
3. Sending reusable rockets to the International Space Station
Another one of Musk's companies - SpaceX - won a contract with NASA to send reusable rockets to the International Space Station (ISS).
SpaceX had 20 successful missions to the ISS under a cargo resupply contract saving Nasa millions of dollars of investment.
On 6 February 2018, Musk sent a dummy payload into space when he placed his favourite car into the Falcon Heavy rocket. At the same time the company was able to retrieve the rocket boosters from the rockets as they auto-landed without issue.
4. Founding The Boring Company
Yes, it's true. The Boring Company really is a thing. The Boring Company was set up by Musk as a method of using tunnel boring machines to reduce heavy traffic in cities such as Los Angeles. The idea is that a system of tunnels and lifts can lower cars underground and then transport them from point to point at up to 125mph.
5. Receiving orders from multinational companies for the new Tesla Semi
The Tesla Semi has been referred to as "the most comfortable truck in the World", with companies such as DHL and Pepsi Co., already placing orders.
At an expected on the road price of £150,000 the Semi will be the safest truck ever and is expected to save in excess of $200,000 on diesel costs and have a range of between 300 and 500 miles per charge.
6. Making Tesla the 2nd most valuable U.S. car company
Tesla went from zero to hero in less than 15 years as it beat the might of General Motors and Ford Motor Company - a company which was established in 1903.
Given the rapid increase in electric and hybrid technology it's difficult to see any company that Elon Musk is involved in going anywhere other than strength the strength.
7. Hyperloop gets the go ahead
Hyperloop is a proposed mode of passenger and freight transportation where a vehicle is transported between two points in a low vacuum environment.
The lack of air or resistance means that a vehicle can travel faster and more economically than current vehicles and was given the green light to connect Baltimore and Washington.
Given his massive achievements to date, it's no surprise that Elon Musk has become one of the most famous people on the planet. In fact, his ability to think 'out of the box' could almost lead people to think he's a time traveler sent back to save mankind before it ruins the planet.
