Tesla seems to be in the news often as we see the electric car company become more and more successful due to their highly popular Model S automobile. I frequently see Teslas on the road, and it wont be long until electric cars are the norm. With Tesla about to launch its second commercial vehicle, the more family-oriented SUV-crossover Model X, it is sometimes important to see where the company has come from. While they focus more on luxury sedans their roots are in sport cars as their first car, the Tesla Roadster, was the car that got the company the start it needed.
Tesla wanted to popularize electric cars for awhile, even before they started producing vehicles. To grow their company, they came up with the idea to build an all-electric sports car that would attract the wealthy who would hopefully purchase the car and then invest in the company. They also planned to release this vehicle initially in a limited quantity, invite-only system to make it more exclusive and increased the hype. This car would become the Tesla Roadster.
The Roadster was finally released in 2008 and it was a hit. For what the vehicle was, it was an attractive piece of transportation. A few different models of the vehicle were produced over the cars four year production with the highest performing one being able to achieve 288 horsepower, yet still getting from 0-60 miles per hour in 3.7 seconds. The vehicle could also get a distance of 245 miles on one single charge. The Roadster was small, quick, and lightweight making it a joy to drive. Tesla did eventually increase production of the vehicles, and moved away from the invite system. The vehicle also costed $109,000, and while that is still expensive, it puts it on par with other vehicles in terms of performance at that price point. The Tesla Roadster was cool too, as it was also the first serial produced electric car in America.
The Tesla Roadster proved to be the perfect way for the company to get its start, as now they have moved on to producing other, more advanced vehicles. That makes sense as Tesla always wanted to popularize electric cars, and get as many people driving one as possible. They were not getting into making electric vehicles to just produce sports. Still, I hope one days Tesla returns to the Roadster or release another sports car variant. We have seen what they can do with the higher performing Model S’s and it would be great to see them apply that to a sports car. One can only hope. Check out this video from Left Lane News to see more:
Photo from Tesla
