CarBrandLogos archive · Tesla · 2008

TeslaRoadster

Two seats, a Lotus chassis and thousands of laptop cells: the proof of concept.

Photo: Tesla Motors Inc. · Copyrighted free use

The story

A defining chapter in Tesla history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Tesla Roadster, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

The argument Tesla needed to win in 2008 was not about efficiency or emissions. It was that an electric car did not have to be slow, ugly and apologetic. The Roadster made that case by being fast enough to worry sports cars and by looking like something people already wanted, which meant starting with a chassis that was known to work.

Roadster interior · Tesla Motors Inc. · Copyrighted free use

Design and engineering

Lotus supplied it. The bonded aluminium tub was built at Hethel and shipped to California for final assembly, heavily modified from the Elise it derived from, and Tesla installed a rear mid-mounted motor driving the rear wheels through a single-speed reduction gear. The battery pack used thousands of small cylindrical lithium-ion cells of the type made for laptops, which was unorthodox and became the foundation of Tesla's approach to packs, cooling and battery management.

Roadster 2.5 charging · Tesla Motors Inc. · Copyrighted free use

In production

Getting it built nearly finished the company. The original two-speed gearbox failed to work and had to be abandoned, supply chains were improvised, costs ran far past plan and the launch coincided with the 2008 financial crisis. Tesla survived on emergency funding.

TSLA S1 zoom in · TSLA_S1.jpg: jurvetson (Steve Jurvetson) derivative work: Mariordo · CC BY 2.0

Legacy

About 2,400 were sold before production ended in 2012, which is nothing in industry terms and irrelevant to the point. The Roadster proved the technology, funded the next step and established the strategy Tesla had written down at the outset: build an expensive low-volume car, then use what you learn to build a cheaper one. The Model S followed directly.

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

2008–2012

Body

2-door roadster

Technical specification

The Roadster, in detail.

Production: 2008–2012
Class: Two-seater/sports car (S)
Body style: 2-door roadster
Layout: Rear mid-motor, rear-wheel drive
Transmission: 1-speed BorgWarner (8.27:1 ratio)
Assembly: England: Hethel (Lotus Cars; Lotus: chassis) ; United States: Menlo Park, California (final assembly)
Manufacturer: Tesla Motors