The Tesla Roadster is a fully electric sports car, and is the first car produced by electric car firm Tesla Motors. The car can travel 221 miles (356 km) on a single charge of its lithium-ion battery pack and accelerate from 0-60 mph (0–97 km/h) in 3.9 seconds with the development transmission. The Roadster's efficiency is reported as 133 W·h/km (4.7 mi/kW·h), equivalent to 135 mpg–U.S. (1.74 L/100 km / 162.1 mpg–imp).

The car was officially unveiled 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.

The San Francisco International Auto Show, held on November 18-26, 2006, was the Tesla Roadster's first auto show.

The Roadster was developed with help from Lotus Cars. The AC motor and drivetrain technology are more advanced than versions used in the GM EV1 and AC Propulsion tzero. Tesla Motors licensed AC Propulsion's Reductive Charging patent which covers integration of the charging electronics with the inverter, thus reducing mass, complexity and cost. Tesla Motors then designed and built its own power electronics, motor, and other drivetrain components that incorporate this licensed technology from AC Propulsion. 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.

Lotus supplied the basic chassis development technology from its Lotus Elise then Tesla engineers designed a new chassis using that technology. Barney Hatt at Lotus' design studio developed the styling with input from Tesla. The car will be assembled at the Lotus factory in Hethel, England, with drivetrain components and body components supplied to the factory by Tesla.

The Roadster shares less than 10% of its components with the Lotus Elise; shared components are confined to the windshield, air bags, tires, some dashboard parts, and suspension components. The parts supply chain extends around the world; Tesla Motor's plant in Taiwan manufactures the motors and the Energy Storage System is assembled at Tesla's plant in Thailand. Chassis are manufactured in Norway. The Roadster's brakes and airbags are made by Siemens in Germany and crash testing was conducted at Siemens as well.

Several prototypes of the Tesla Roadster were produced from 2004 through 2007. Initial studies were done in two "mule" vehicles. Ten Engineering Prototypes (EP1 thru EP10) were then built and tested in late 2006 and early 2007 which lead to many minor changes. Tesla then produced seventeen Validation Prototypes (VP1 thru VP17) which were delivered beginning in March, 2007. These final revisions were endurance and crash tested in preparation for series production.

In January, 2008 the NHTSA announced that it would grant a waiver of the advanced air bag rule noting that the Tesla Roadster already includes standard air bags; similar waivers have been granted to many other small volume manufacturers as well including Lotus, Ferrari and Bugatti.

Check out the Tesla Roadster wallpapers and Tesla Roadster Pictures (pics) collection below: