Tesla Motors introduced the first-generation Tesla Roadster in 2008. Based on the Lotus Elise chassis, it was a highway-legal, serial-production battery-electric sports car that helped make modern electric vehicles commercially credible.
Tesla chose a lightweight two-seat roadster rather than beginning with a practical family sedan. The car used a lithium-ion battery pack and a rear-mounted electric motor, offering performance and driving range that challenged assumptions about electric cars. Lotus supplied and assembled the chassis in England, while Tesla completed final assembly in California.
The Roadster was produced from 2008 to 2012. It was the first production electric vehicle to use lithium-ion battery cells and the first production all-electric car advertised with a range above 200 miles per charge. Those distinctions are more precise than the broader phrase “first electric car.”
Electric vehicles existed long before Tesla, including early cars in the nineteenth century and modern limited-production models in the 1990s. Tesla’s significance was combining long range, sports-car performance and a recognizable consumer product.