Electric car Delco. These early cars were eventually withdrawn from the U.S. market. California electric automaker Tesla Motors began development in 2004 on what would become the Tesla Roadster (2008), which was first delivered to customers in 2008. 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 to travel more than per charge. Tesla global sales passed 250,000 units in September 2017. The Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance achieved the milestone of 500,000 units electric vehicles sold in October 2017. Tesla sold its 200,000th Model S in the fourth quarter of 2017.
Plug-in electric vehicles in California of plug-in electric cars in the state passed the 200,000 unit milestone in March 2016. By November 2016, with about 250,000 plug-in cars sold in the state since 2010, China was the only country market that exceeds California in terms of cumulative plug-in electric car sales. The top selling models in 2017 were the Chevrolet Bolt (13,487), Tesla Model S (11,813), Tesla Model X (6,910), Fiat 500e (4,943), Nissan Leaf (4,418), and Volkswagen e-Golf (3,202). Tesla Inc. listed as the best selling plug-in manufacturer in 2017, with combined sales of its Model S and X totaling 18,723 units (Model 3