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 These early cars were eventually withdrawn from the U.S. market.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.
Tesla Model S Tesla Model S was the top selling plug-in electric car worldwide in 2015 and 2016, and by the end of 2017 continued to rank as the second most-sold electric car in history after the Nissan Leaf. The Model S was styled by Franz von Holzhausen, who previously worked for Mazda North American Operations. The car was codenamed" WhiteStar" during research and preliminary development. It was officially announced in a press release on June 30, 2008. The prototype vehicle was displayed at a press conference on March 26, 2009. Exclusive premier of their Model S electric car was held at their