The first generation Tesla Roadster is a battery electric sports car based on the Lotus Elise chassis, and was produced by Tesla Motors (now Tesla, Inc.) from 2008 to 2012. The Roadster was the first highway legal, serial production, all-electric car to use lithium-ion battery cells, and the first production all-electric car with a range of more than per charge. 2008: The Tesla Roadster becomes the first production electric vehicle to use lithium-ion battery cells as well as the first production electric vehicle to have a range of over 200 miles on a single charge.

Tesla sold about 2,450 Roadsters in over 30 countries, More than 2,350 units sold through June 2012. Sales during the 3Q 2012: 68 Roadsters and 253 Model S. and most of the last Roadsters were sold in Europe and Asia during the fourth quarter of 2012. Tesla produced right-hand-drive Roadsters from early 2010. The Roadster qualified for government incentives in several nations.

According to the U.S. EPA, the Roadster can travel on a single charge of its lithium-ion battery pack. The vehicle can accelerate from in 3.7 or 3.9 seconds depending on the model. It has a top speed of . The Roadster's efficiency, , was reported as (2.0 L/100 km). It uses 21.7 kWh/100 mi (135 Wh/km) battery-to-wheel, and has an efficiency of 88% on average.

History

Prototypes of the car were officially revealed to the public on July 19, 2006, in Santa Monica, California, at a 350-person invitation-only event held in Barker Hangar at Santa Monica Airport. It was featured in Time in December 2006 as the recipient of the magazine's "Best Inventions 2006—Transportation Invention" award.

The first Tesla Roadster was delivered in February 2008 to Tesla early investor, chairman and product architect Elon Musk. The company produced 500 similar vehicles through June 2009. In July 2009, Tesla began production of its 2010 model-year Roadster—the first major product upgrade. Simultaneously, Tesla began producing the Roadster Sport, the first derivative of Tesla's proprietary, patented powertrain. The car accelerates from in 3.7 seconds, compared to 3.9 seconds for the standard Roadster.

Changes for the 2010 model-year cars included: An upgraded interior and push-button gear selector, including "executive interior" of exposed carbon fiber and premium leather, and clear-coat carbon fiber body accents. Locking, push-button glove box wrapped in leather. A centrally mounted video display screen to monitor real-time data, including estimated range, power regenerated, and the number of barrels of oil saved. Manually adjustable shock absorber response and anti-sway bars. More powerful and immediate heating, ventilation and air-conditioning. More efficient motor and hand-wound stator delivering higher peak power. Sound-deadening measures to reduce noise, vibration and harshness.

All of these features, except for the motor, were available either as standard or as add-on option for the non-sport model.

Beginning mid-March 2010, Tesla, in an effort to show off the practicality of its electric cars, sent one of its Roadsters around the world. Starting at the Geneva International Motor Show, the Roadster completed its journey upon its arrival in Paris on September 28, 2010.

In July 2010, Tesla introduced the "Roadster 2.5" update including: New front fascia with diffusing vents and rear diffuser Directional forged wheels available in both silver and black New seats with larger more supportive bolsters and a new lumbar support system Power control hardware that enables better performance in exceptionally hot climates An optional 7-inch touchscreen display with back-up camera Improved interior sound reduction including new front fender liner material

Tesla produced the Roadster until January 2012, when its supply of gliders ran out, as its contract with Lotus Cars for 2,500 gliders expired at the end of 2011. Tesla stopped taking orders for the Roadster in the U.S. market in August 2011.Dillow, Clay. (June 23, 2011) Farewell Roadster: Tesla Will Stop Taking Orders for its Iconic EV in Two Months | Popular Science . Popsci.com. Retrieved on 2013-08-10. Featuring new options and enhanced components, the 2012 Tesla Roadster was sold in limited numbers only in Europe, Asia, and Australia. Tesla's U.S. exemption for not having advanced (two-stage) passenger airbags expired for cars made after the end of 2011 so the last Roadsters could not be sold in the American market. Fifteen Final Edition Roadsters were produced to close the manufacturing cycle of Tesla's first electric car.

For a time, Tesla offered an optional upgrade to existing Roadsters, the Roadster 3.0. It offered a new battery pack with cells from LG Chem increasing capacity by 50% to 70 kWh, a new aero kit designed to reduce drag, and new tires with lower rolling resistance. The upgrade was offered between September 2015 and late 2016 at a cost of .

In November 2023, Tesla open-sourced some of the Roadster's design and engineering documents, as well as diagnostic software.

Development

After Martin Eberhard sold NuvoMedia to TV Guide, he wanted a sports car, but could not find one to his liking. His battery experience with the Rocket eBook inspired him to develop an electric car.

During his search, Eberhard test drove the tzero, a concept car from the small automaker AC Propulsion. Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, who had also driven the tzero, tried to convince the company to put the car into production, but when they declined, they decided to establish Tesla Motors in Delaware on July 1, 2003, to pursue the idea commercially. South African-born entrepreneur Elon Musk would also test drive a tzero and encouraged AC Propulsion to put the car into production, instead the company connected Musk with Eberhard and Tarpenning. Musk took an active role within the company starting in 2004, including investing US$7.5 million (~$ in ), overseeing Roadster product design from the beginning, and greatly expanding Tesla's long-term strategic sales goals by using the sports car to fund the development of mainstream vehicles. Musk became Tesla's chairman of the board in April 2004. J. B. Straubel joined the company as a principal engineer in March 2004 and became the chief technology officer in May 2005. Musk received the Global Green 2006 product design award for the design of the Tesla Roadster, presented by Mikhail Gorbachev, and he received the 2007 Index Design award for the design of the Tesla Roadster.

Before Tesla had developed the Roadster's proprietary powertrain, they borrowed a tzero for use as a development mule and converted the vehicle from lead–acid AGM batteries to lithium-ion cells, which substantially increased the range, reduced weight, and boosted 0 to 60 mph performance. Tesla licensed AC Propulsion's EV power system design and reductive charging patent, which covers integration of the charging electronics with the inverter, thus reducing mass, complexity, and cost. Tesla, however, was dissatisfied with how the motor and transmission worked in the chassis. Tesla then designed and built its own power electronics, motor, and other drivetrain components that incorporated this licensed technology from AC Propulsion. Given the extensive redevelopment of the vehicle, Tesla Motors no longer licenses any proprietary technology from AC Propulsion. The Roadster's powertrain is unique.

On July 11, 2005, Tesla and British sports car maker Lotus entered an agreement about products and services based on the Lotus Elise, where Lotus provided advice on designing and developing a vehicle as well as producing partly assembled vehicles, and amended in 2009, helped with basic chassis development. The Roadster has a parts overlap of roughly 6% with the Lotus Elise, a 2-inch-longer wheelbase, and a slightly stiffer chassis according to Eberhard. Tesla's designers chose to construct the body panels using resin transfer molded carbon fiber composite to minimize weight; this choice makes the Roadster one of the least expensive cars with an entirely carbon fiber skin.

Several prototypes of the Tesla Roadster were produced from 2004 through 2007. Initial studies were done in two development mule vehicles based on Lotus Elises equipped with all-electric drive systems. Tesla then built and tested ten engineering prototypes (EP1 through EP10) in late 2006 and early 2007, which led to many minor changes. Next, Tesla produced at least 26 validation prototypes, which were delivered beginning in March 2007. These final revisions were endurance and crash tested in preparation for series production.

In August 2007, Martin Eberhard was replaced by an interim CEO, Michael Marks. Marks accepted the temporary position while a recruitment was undertaken. In December 2007, Ze'ev Drori became the CEO and president of Tesla. In October 2008, Musk succeeded Drori as CEO. Drori left the company in December. In January 2008, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced that it would grant Tesla a waiver of the advanced (two-stage) air bag ruleNotices and Final Rules: Air Bag Information. Nhtsa.dot.gov. Retrieved on August 10, 2013. noting that the Roadster includes standard air bags. Similar waivers were granted to other small volume manufacturers, including Lotus, Ferrari, and Bugatti. Tesla delivered its first production car in February 2008 to Musk.

Tesla announced in early August 2009 that Roadster sales had resulted in overall corporate profitability for the month of July 2009, earning on revenue of .

Tesla, which signed a production contract with Lotus in 2007 to produce "gliders" (complete cars minus electric powertrain) for the Roadster, announced in early 2010 that Roadster production would continue until early 2012. Starting one year prior to the end of the contract, no changes to the order was allowed to give time for tooling changes at Lotus's assembly plant in the UK.

Several years later in 2018, Musk would go on to say that using the Lotus Elise as a base for the Roadster was a poor strategy because the Elise was incompatible with the intended AC Propulsion technology and was modified so extensively only 7% of the Elise remained in common with the final production Roadster.

Production

Tesla's cumulative production of the Roadster reached 1,000 cars in January 2010. The Roadster is considered an American car though many carry a Vehicle Identification Number beginning with the letter "S", which is the designation for the United Kingdom. Some, however, carry a number starting with "5" appropriate to the US. Parts were sourced from around the world. The body panels came from French supplier Sotira. These were sent from France to Hethel, U.K., where Tesla contracted with Lotus to build the Roadster's unique chassis. The Roadster shares roughly 7% of its components with the Lotus Elise including the windshield, airbags, some dashboard parts, and suspension components. The Roadster's single-speed gearbox was made in Detroit by BorgWarner. Brakes and airbags were made by Siemens in Germany, and some crash testing was conducted at Siemens as well. 30–40% of components were sourced from Taiwan.

For Roadsters bound for customers in North America, the glider was sent to Tesla's facility in Menlo Park, California for final assembly, and for Roadsters bound for customers in Europe or elsewhere outside of North America, the glider was sent to a facility at Wymondham near Hethel for final assembly. At these locations, Tesla employees installed the powertrain, which consisted of the battery pack, power electronics module, gearbox and motor.

Tesla ordered 2,500 gliders from Lotus, which ceased production in December 2011 when their contract expired. Tesla ended production of the Roadster in January 2012.

Timeline