Tesla Roadster (first generation)

The Roadster made the electric car desirable. Built on a Lotus Elise chassis from 2008 to 2012, it was the first highway-legal series-production electric car to use lithium-ion cells and the first production electric car with more than 200 miles of range per charge; the EPA rated it at 244 miles. Only about 2,450 were sold, in more than 30 countries, but volume was never its job. It proved that lithium-ion cells could make an electric car fast and long-legged at once, and it put the company that would push every major maker to follow on the map.