What was special about the 2008 Tesla Roadster?
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 with a range of more than 200 miles (320 km) per charge. The 2010 Roadster is personally owned by and previously used by Musk for commuting to work. It is the first production car launched into space.The first Tesla Roadster was delivered in February 2008 to Tesla early investor, chairman and product architect Elon Musk. The company produced 500 similar vehicles through June 2009.
Does Elon Musk own a Tesla Roadster?
The 2010 Roadster is personally owned by and previously used by Musk for commuting to work. It is the first production car launched into space. Elon’s P1/0001 — The Very First Production Tesla Roadster This Roadster was the first production example built by Tesla, delivered to company chairman Elon Musk in February 2008 at Tesla’s Research and Development facility in San Carlos, California.
Did Elon Musk own Tesla in 2008?
Tesla Motors was founded as an electric carmaker by engineers Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning in 2003. Elon Musk, co-founder of X. PayPal Holdings Inc. PYPL), was an early investor in Tesla and a board member before taking over as CEO in 2008. Last Updated Mar 10, 2026, 1:01am EDT Elon Musk cofounded seven companies, including electric car maker Tesla, rocket producer SpaceX and artificial intelligence startup xAI. He owns about 12% of Tesla, which he first backed in 2004, and which he’s led as CEO since 2008.Who is the owner of Tesla? Although there’s no single owner of Tesla, Elon Musk is the largest owner of Tesla stock. The company, then called Tesla Motors, was founded by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning in 2003.Rising Tesla insurance rates have pushed drivers toward other EVs, and a survey found that Elon Musk became a top reason drivers were getting rid of their Teslas in 2023 — yet most of those drivers still chose to stay electric.