The Tesla Roadster goes into production in 2007 and has already sold their first 100 cars at a price tag of $100,000 (£54,000).  The order list was fulfilled in just 3 weeks and its easy to see why.

Before now, electric vehicles typically capped off around 60 miles per charge, relegating them to the status of commuter cars. The Tesla Roadster changes all that. Plug it in at night when you pull into the garage, and you can drive about 250 miles on that charge the next day.  In addition, it will feature a Lotus designed chassis, and the ability to go from zero to 60 mph in just four seconds.  The Tesla Roadster delivers full availability of performance every moment you are in the car, even while at a stoplight.  Its peak torque begins at zero rpm and stays powerful beyond 13,500 rpm.  This is delivered through a 4-pole electric motor producing 248hp peak (185kW) and carrying the Roadster to over 130mph.

There’s no clutch to contend with and no race-car driving techniques to perform. Just the touch of your foot and you’re off, without any of the sluggishness of an automatic.  This is because unlike other electric cars to-date, the Tesla has two gears.  The first is a high-torque option to take the car from 0-60 at maximum speed and the second offering a gentler rate of acceleration, taking the car up to its top speed.

The Tesla Roadster plugs into an at-home charging unit, and is fully charged in under four hours.  Just like the fuel gauge in your existing car, the instruments inside the Tesla Roadster indicate how many more miles can be driven before you need to think about recharging so there's no chance of being stranded.  And should you need to charge on the road, packed away in the boot is an optional mobile-charging kit that lets you charge from standard electrical outlets while away from home.  In addition it uses regenerative braking technology which recovers and stores the energy usually lost when you slow down, extending the charge even further.

The Tesla Roadster’s battery pack - the car’s "fuel tank" - represents the biggest innovation in the Tesla Roadster and is one of the largest and most advanced battery packs available.  By combining basic proven lithium ion battery technology with Tesla's own software, the 6,831 lithium ion batteries are cooled at high speeds and kept safe.  Tesla claim that the Roadster will give more than 100,000 miles of peak performance driving, even with daily charging.

Part of Tesla's performance is down to its weight.  Like the Lotus, the Tesla has a carbon-fibre body, but still it is heavier because of the battery.  In comparison, a typical four-cylinder engine of a conventional car comprises over a hundred moving parts.  The motor of the Tesla Roadster has just one: the rotor. So there’s less weight to drive around.

The Tesla Roadster is the idea of Martin Eberhard (Tesla Motors CEO) after he and co-founder Marc Tarpenning sold their tech company NuvoMedia in 2000 to Gemstar for $187 million.  Martin wanted to develop an ecologically responsible sports car without a dependency on oil.  He found an eager partner in PayPal co-founder Elon Musk.  In July 2006 an additional $40 million was raised through investors.

Tesla says their order books are full and are not taking anymore order until 2007.  By 2009, the company plans to offer a $50,000 luxury sedan however there have been no details of a European launch.