Tesla Roadster (first generation)
first generation of electric convertible sports car produced 2008–2012
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 200 miles (320 km) per charge.
Tesla sold about 2,450 Roadsters in over 30 countries, 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 244 miles (393 km) on a single charge of its lithium-ion battery pack. The vehicle can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph (0 to 97 km/h) in 3.7 or 3.9 seconds depending on the model. It has a top speed of 125 mph (201 km/h). The Roadster's efficiency, as of September 2008, was reported as 120 miles per gallon gasoline equivalent (28 kW⋅h/100 mi) (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.
“Tesla Roadster (first generation)” enters the record as first generation of electric convertible sports car produced 2008–2012. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Tesla, Roadster and first can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q210893. The Library of Congress control number is sh2007002378. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2008, 2012 and 2010.
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