Which British sports car supplied the chassis for Tesla’s original Roadster?

The British sports car supplying the chassis for Tesla’s original Roadster was the Lotus Elise.

Tesla based the first-generation Roadster on the lightweight Lotus Elise platform. Lotus supplied glider vehicles and provided engineering assistance, while Tesla redesigned the car’s powertrain around a lithium-ion battery pack and an electric motor. The result combined a small sports-car body with a propulsion system unlike that of conventional gasoline vehicles.

The Roadster entered production in 2008 and became Tesla’s first production vehicle. Although it shared important structural and design elements with the Elise, Tesla changed many components, including the body panels, battery system, electronics, and drivetrain.

The Roadster is therefore not simply a rebadged Lotus Elise. Its significance came from pairing a lightweight sports-car platform with a rechargeable battery system, helping demonstrate that an electric car could deliver strong acceleration and useful performance.