Tesla Mule 1 Proof of Concept Lotus Elise

2002 Tesla Other MULE 1 PROTOTYPE Description

Up For Bid is the first drive-able Tesla prototype.
There is no drivetrain or tesla installed electrics other than pictured.
The following was written by Martin Eberhard on the Tesla owners forum.
Mules
The yellow Mule 1 started its life as a gasoline-powered Lotus Elise: an Italian-spec car with the Rover K-Series engine. Lotus imported the car to the US for show before they had any US-spec cars. When they were done with it, they could not sell it for road use in the US because it was not DOT-compliant, and it was not worthwhile to ship it back to Europe. Tesla bought it relatively cheaply from Lotus for conversion. The car was pretty much completely dismantled by the early Tesla crew, then re-assembled with early prototype drivetrain components.
I was the guy who got to take the sawzall to the Elise :biggrin:
Mule 2 was not based on an Italian Elise at all.....