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 These early cars were eventually withdrawn from the U.S. market.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 units in 2013, placing the Model S as the third selling plug-in electric car after the Chevrolet Volt (23,094) and the Nissan Leaf (22,610). Also in 2013, the Model S was the top seller in the full-size luxury sedan category, ahead of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class at 13,303. In 2014, 16,689 Model S sedans were delivered, down 10.5% from 2013, but the electric sedan ranked again as the third best selling plug-in car in the U.S. In 2015 the Model S ranked as the top selling plug-in electric car in the U.S, with 25,202 delivered, surpassing both the Leaf (17,296) and