The first production Roadster went to Musk in February 2008 and regular series production began on March 17. Both co-founders had left by early 2008, the first service center opened in Los Angeles in May, Franz von Holzhausen was hired as designer, and Tesla moved to a single-speed gearbox (Powertrain 1.5); by the end of September only 30 cars had reached customers.
Der erste Serien-Roadster ging im Februar 2008 an Musk, die reguläre Serienproduktion begann am 17. März. Beide Mitgründer hatten das Unternehmen Anfang 2008 verlassen, im Mai eröffnete in Los Angeles das erste Service-Center, Franz von Holzhausen wurde als Designer eingestellt und Tesla stellte auf ein Eingang-Getriebe (Powertrain 1.5) um; bis Ende September waren erst 30 Autos bei Kunden.
El primer Roadster de serie se entregó a Musk en febrero de 2008 y la producción en serie regular empezó el 17 de marzo. Los dos cofundadores se habían marchado a principios de 2008, en mayo abrió el primer centro de servicio en Los Ángeles, Franz von Holzhausen fue contratado como diseñador y Tesla pasó a una caja de una sola velocidad (Powertrain 1.5); a finales de septiembre solo 30 coches habían llegado a clientes.
Le premier Roadster de série a été livré à Musk en février 2008 et la production en série régulière a démarré le 17 mars. Les deux cofondateurs étaient partis début 2008, le premier centre de service a ouvert à Los Angeles en mai, Franz von Holzhausen a été embauché comme designer et Tesla est passée à une boîte à rapport unique (Powertrain 1.5) ; fin septembre, seules 30 voitures avaient été livrées à des clients.
2008 年 2 月，首辆量产 Roadster 交付给马斯克，3 月 17 日开始正式批量生产。两位联合创始人已于 2008 年初离开公司；5 月，首个服务中心在洛杉矶开业；Franz von Holzhausen 受聘为设计师；特斯拉改用单速变速箱（Powertrain 1.5）。截至 9 月底，仅有 30 辆车交付给客户。
It was also reported that a newer, better transmission had been developed and that production of the car was hoped to reach 20 per week by December 2008, and 40 per week by March 2009.
However, at the GoingGreen conference in September 2008, Elon Musk —the chief executive officer of Tesla —announced that the company would exclusively produce battery-electric vehicles.
Starting in September 2008 Tesla selected BorgWarner to manufacture gearboxes and began equipping all Roadsters with a single speed, fixed gear gearbox (8.2752:1 ratio) with an electrically actuated parking pawl mechanism and a mechanical lubrication pump.
In August 2008, Tesla reported on testing with the new, single-speed gearbox and upgraded electronics of powertrain 1.5, which yielded an EPA range of 244 mi (393 km) and an EPA combined cycle, plug-to-wheel efficiency of 28 kWh/100 mi (174 Wh/km).
In July 2008, SolarCity completed what was, at the time, the largest commercial solar installation in San Francisco, California, consisting of 1,606 solar photovoltaic panels for British Motor Car Distributors.
Musk led the fourth round in May 2008 which added another US$400,167,530 in debt financing, and brought the total investments to over US$100 million through private financing.
In a review of a Roadster prototype in March 2008, before the cars were in serial production, Motor Trend gave a generally favorable review, stating that it was "undeniably, unbelievably efficient" and would be "profoundly humbling to just about any rumbling Ferrari or Porsche that makes the mistake of pulling up next to a silent, 105 mpg ‑US (2.2 L/100 km; 126 mpg ‑imp ) Tesla Roadster at a stoplight"; they nonetheless detected a "nasty drive-train buck" during the test drive of an early Roadster with the older, two-speed transmission.
The EPA combined range (specifying distance traveled between charges) measured in February 2008 for early production Roadsters was 231 mi (372 km) city, 224 mi (360 km) highway, and 227 mi (365 km) combined (city/highway).
At the "Town Hall Meeting" with owners on January 30, 2008, Tesla Motors described the planned transmission upgrade as a single-speed gearbox with a drive ratio of 8.27:1 combined with improved electronics and motor cooling that retain the acceleration from 0 to 60 mph (0 to 97 km/h) in under 4 seconds and an improved motor limit of 14,000 rpm to retain the 125 mph (201 km/h) top speed.
In 2008, SolarCity entered the solar leasing market with a new solar lease option for homeowners: leasing rooftop solar to customers who would pay no upfront costs.