Every generation produces a genius who aids humanity in expanding its horizons. These geniuses push the boundaries of innovation and technology, accelerating human progress. We’ve seen Einstein, Da Vinci, and Steve Jobs, among others.
Elon Musk is another name that deserves to be on this list. He doesn’t need an introduction. This South African-born Canadian-American business magnate, investor, engineer, and inventor has many great innovations to his name, but we’ll only mention five.
Here are some of the biggest Elon Musk’s inventions that were impossible to pull off.
The world needed Tesla
Perhaps Elon Musk is most popular because of his Tesla cars. These cars exist today so it’s easy to believe, but it was originally an impossible invention.
Electric cars existed already but they were inefficient. These cars were neither fast nor pretty and charging them was also not easy. So it’s not people did not care about the environment, but you can sell dull products in the name of saving the environment.
So, looking back, Tesla not only turned all of these problems into its biggest asset, but it also added some new features. The first-generation Tesla Roadster can travel 393 kilometers (244 miles) on a single charge of its lithium-ion battery pack. Which is already insane. It can also accelerate from 0 to 97 km/h (0-60 mph) in 3.7 or 3.9 seconds (depending on the model). The Tesla S Plaid model now accelerates from 0 to 60 mph (97 kph) in 1.99 seconds, making it one of the world’s fastest cars.
It doesn’t stop there. Tesla installed charging stations across the country, most of which were free. Tesla now operates 25,000+ Superchargers and has the world’s largest global, fast-charging network.
Have we talked about autopilot yet? The autopilot is another near-impossible invention he created. Tesla vehicles are equipped with advanced hardware capable of providing Autopilot features as well as full self-driving capabilities as standard. The autopilot feature allows a car to change lanes and even drive through highway interchange ramps while the driver’s hands are only on the steering wheel. Elon also claims that autopilot results in fewer accidents in general. According to the NHTSA, the national rate in 2017 was one accident for every 498,000 miles driven. Isn’t it insane?
Oh, the craziest of all. He shot his Tesla Roadster convertible car into space. Did you know that? The $100k car was sent to space using the world’s most proficient rocket, SpaceX Falcon Heavy in 2018. The car orbits the sun about every 557 days and completed its first complete orbit in 2019. Scientists say that the car can orbit for a few million years and will likely be able to return to the Earth. Here’s the coolest part about the roadster. Fans created a website where you can check the live location of the car. The website is whereisroadster.
SpaceX is a miracle
Elon musk dared to compete with NASA in 2002. He started with a mission to make rockets reusable and more accessible so that he can colonize mars. Yep, colonizing Mars is his biggest and most passionate project but let’s talk about it later.
As we mentioned above, when Elon sent his car with one of the biggest rockets, he made both publicity and history. Being a private company, he successfully competed with his biggest competitors. This helped him regain the confidence of his investors and stakeholders. Which he badly needed to do the more impossible inventions.
Coming back to SpaceX. To start off, SpaceX was the first private company to launch and return a spacecraft from Earth orbit, along with being the first to launch a crewed spacecraft and dock it to the International Space Station (ISS).
SpaceX’s biggest goal initially was to make cheap rockets so that they can become accessible. The Falcon 1 rocket, a two-stage liquid-fueled craft designed to send small satellites into orbit. The Falcon 1 was hugely cheaper than other rockets at the time. One of the reasons for its price was the SpaceX-developed Merlin engine which is now used by other companies as well.
After that, the 2nd step was to make the rockets reusable. Yes, because at the time, the rockets can only be used at once only and it cost tons of money. The Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX made it possible to reuse the first stage by safely returning it to Earth. Making it technically reusable. This process of resuing and refurbishing the rockets costs less than half of the original.
In 2008, Elon Musk created another piece of history when SpaceX became the first privately owned company to launch a liquid-fueled rocket into orbit. Three months later, it was awarded a $1 billion NASA contract to service the International Space Station. In 2010, the company set another milestone by becoming the first commercial company to launch a spacecraft into orbit and successfully return it to Earth.
In May 2020, SpaceX accomplished the near-impossible by launching NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken into space aboard its Crew Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket. The ultimate goal of this mission is to help people travel to space.
We haven’t even scratched the surface of what SpaceX has accomplished. And Elon Musk is making history every day you wake up. Overall, SpaceX completely transformed the space industry, and hopefully, Elon will be able to send people into space and colonize Mars.
More impossible inventions by Elon Musk
X.com, now PayPal
In 1999, Musk co-founded X.com, a company that specialized in financial services and email payments. Remember that this was the time when not everybody even had an Internet connection. This was Elon’s second venture after selling his first company, Zip2. A year later, X.com merged with Confinity and adopted the name of Confinity’s most famous service, PayPal. The merge of the two technologies produced a behemoth that pioneered online payments and was eventually purchased by eBay for $1.5 billion in 2002. The transaction made $165 million for Elon Musk which he later invested in his next venture.
Hyperloop, changing transportation
This invention is still in the process but when it gets done, it will change the way we travel. This transportation system, which was introduced in 2013 but is still in the planning stages, aims to allow commuters to travel between Los Angeles and San Francisco in 35 minutes or less, which is faster than a commercial flight. This runs on a technology that is now new but was only fiction till now.
The rail system would operate in a tube with extremely low air pressure, reducing drag and allowing for higher speeds of up to 800 miles per hour while using less power (theoretically). The cost and land required to build the system, however, are the most significant roadblocks. The technology is still in its early stages, but it will be interesting to see how it develops.
SolarCity, potentially the biggest solar energy provider
Elon Musk is known for promoting green energy. Perhaps SolarCity is the most visible project which only works to make the power more sustainable and environmentally friendly. SolarCity was founder by Musk and his cousins in 2006. The company has grown into one of the biggest solar energy providers with revenues of $102.8 million in the most recent quarter.
It is currently working on storage systems that will allow people to access the power generated by solar panels at night. When President Obama and the EPA announced the Clean Power Plan in 2015, he stated that he intended to invest in SolarCity. In order to achieve a 32% reduction in carbon pollution in the sector within fifteen years. The company has shown a lot of potentials ever since.
Conclusion
Did you know? Before he was one of the richest men, he loved video games. When he was 12, he needed a new computer so he coded a video game called Blaster (you can play it here). And, of course, he was able to sell the game to a magazine for around $500. He was always the same Elon that we know and love.
Although we mentioned tons of inventions that were not only impossible to make, they had a great intention also. There are other inventions/ventures/ideas accomplished by Musk that only a few people know. These include location-specific searches, web-based phone calls, and Zip2 online city guides.
Elon is somehow able to work more than us. His other companies on which he currently works are The Boring Company, OpenAI, and NeuraLink. Want to learn how Elon Musk gets so much done? Read this article: Elon’s Productivity guide.
Although we mentioned tons of inventions that were not only impossible to make, they had a great intention also. There are other inventions/ventures/ideas accomplished by Musk that only a few people know. These include location-specific searches, web-based phone calls, and Zip2 online city guides.
