Tesla produced the Roadster, its first production car, beginning in 2008.
The Tesla Roadster was based on the Lotus Elise sports-car platform but used an electric powertrain developed for Tesla. Production began in 2008, making the Roadster the company’s first production vehicle. Its performance and lithium-ion battery system helped challenge the idea that electric cars had to be slow or impractical.
Tesla later moved toward higher-volume vehicles, beginning with the Model S sedan in 2012 and the Model X in 2015. The Model 3 and Model Y expanded the company’s reach into more affordable and mass-market segments.
The Roadster is sometimes confused with the later second-generation Roadster announced by Tesla. The original Roadster was sold from 2008 to 2012, while the newer model has been presented as a future high-performance vehicle.