Tesla vs. Top Gear

[cet]

I hope this isn't a re-post, I did a search and nothing came up.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/30/t...e-for-comment/

Fans of a particular show featuring three middle-aged men with an unhealthy penchant for cars, plus a fourth individual whose interests are rather more elusive, probably remember a 2008 episode in which the Top Gear crew lambasted the Tesla Roadster. (If not, a particularly low-quality recording is embedded below.) On that show, Jeremy Clarkson could be seen flogging one around the track, complaining about a range of only 55 miles before showing that car being pushed into the garage, supposedly out of charge. Not true, says Tesla, who has filed a lawsuit against the BBC for libel and malicious falsehood. Tesla claims that, among other things, two cars were provided and at all times at least one of them was ready and willing. Beyond that, Tesla knows that neither car ever dropped below 25 percent charge, meaning the whole pushing into the garage thing was, well, staged. It's hard to look at this as much more than a PR move, Tesla waiting over two years to file, but that doesn't mean the complaint isn't legit. Now it's time for the Beeb to roll out its crew of tame racing lawyers. Some say their suits are made of wool, and that their briefcases contain actual briefs. All we know is they're very well compensated.

Update: Well, the hornets' nest has been kicked, and it didn't take long for the swarm to arise. The BBC has dropped a bombshell, saying that it "stands by the programme and will be vigorously defending this claim."

[Mibz]

The initial lawsuit isn't surprising, but the BBC's reply blows my mind. That's awesome.

[BrknFngrs]

Wicked article

[Mitsu3000gt]

Haha, I love BBC & Top Gear so much. Their reply doesn't really surprise me.

[Freeskier]

Mind you with the popularity of Top Gear being what it is, I can understand why Tesla is pissed. They don't have the established customer base to be able to weather bad publicity like that.

But still...GO BBC lol!

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

Go BBC!

[TorqueDog]

Go BBC.

On the programme Jeremy Clarkson claimed: "Although Tesla say it'll do 200 miles, we worked out that on our track it would run out after just 55 miles."

But in a statement on its website, Tesla said the Roadster's miles per charge had been certified at 211 miles by a third party European Union (EU) test.

It argued that because the car was "driven aggressively" on Top Gear the charge didn't last as long, but that if driven "mindfully" charges could last for 313 miles.

Top Gear qualifies the statement when it says that 'on our track it would run out after just 55 miles.' No one would expect you to drive a car 'mindfully' around a track, especially not something being touted as a performance car.

I think Top Gear wins this.

[5.0]

Go Telsa!

Not sure why they waited so long to file a lawsuit??

[kenny]

Originally posted by 5.0
Go Telsa!

Not sure why they waited so long to file a lawsuit??

Wait as long as possible so you can claim more damages.

[962 kid]

Go Tesla. A regular supercar won't do much more than 100 miles on a huge fuel tank around a race track, yet you don't see them faking scenes about pushing a 430 scud because it ran empty.

[kenny]

Originally posted by 962 kid
Go Tesla. A regular supercar won't do much more than 100 miles on a huge fuel tank around a race track, yet you don't see them faking scenes about pushing a 430 scud because it ran empty.

Probably because you can refill a tank of gasoline in 45seconds vs 6 hours plugged into the wall :P

[treg50]

+1 for 'Go Tesla.' Rip a good chunk out of Top Gear. People have sued other trashy, tabloids for less and won. Tesla says the car definitely had at least 25% charge left, so wtf is Top Gear pushing a Tesla into the garage saying it ran out of juice?

[dino_martini]

I hope Tesla gets something out of this, not because I care about them. But I think BBC and Top Gear need to be put in their place.

[962 kid]

Originally posted by kenny


Probably because you can refill a tank of gasoline in 45seconds vs 6 hours plugged into the wall :P

If you run out of gas in the middle of a race track, you have a lot of pushing ahead of you no matter what. Hell it wouldn't even be a big deal if your Tesla ran dry, just push it to the pits, plug it in for an hour or so and drive home. At least you don't have to worry about running lean mid corner

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmxUsGiGp3w

Ferrari 599 - 27.7 gallon tank would be empty in 47 miles
Aston DBS - 20.5 gallon tank, empty in 50ish miles
Lambo - 26.4 gallon tank empty after 108 miles

I hope Tesla takes them to the cleaners

[Tik-Tok]

Lol. You know what's going to happen now. Next season will have the Tesla driven until it actually is out of juice, with a big "there, we told you so" from Jeremy.

[Mar]

Nice, I love the differences between North America and Europe like this. Any company in North America would apologize for months straight just to please the customer, whatever they want. Europe? If they're not wrong, they're not apologizing. I like it.

Originally posted by 5.0
Go Telsa!

Not sure why they waited so long to file a lawsuit??

If you file right away, the judge will ask as part of the suit what you want in return for damages. The fact is you haven't had any damage yet so you have to guess. If you wait 2 years, you have analysts that have studied market trends and have numbers to back the sales you have lost. This will make it much easier to persuade a judge that you have been wronged.

[Zephyr]

Kinda dumb move for Tesla. In the video you can see the car was being pushed well beyond normal driving methods. Just like every car that they put on that track, they get pushed to the limit. Even petrol cars have shortened milage when pushed.

http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/road...ency-and-range

Even their own blog says "One clear driving “tip” to take away from this is if you are ever nervous about making it to a given destination: you will do much better to slow down instead of speeding up."

Top Gear is an entertainment show with their own opinions, just like everyone here has one. Should they be sued when Clarkson makes his rants about motorcycles? Should they be sued when Clarkson says Porsches have the motors in the wrong position?

LOL people watch Top Gear for "journalism" LOL!

[sidewaysD]

I love it when the media stands up against a big company or a reputable car manufacture.

I personally don't think it was staged, didn't one overheat, and the other had brake issues? They both flopped out anyway...like bring two cars and both clunk out...coincidental?

[Zewind]

Made my Telsa stock go up so im happy

[Tik-Tok]

You may know that Tesla has issued a writ against Top Gear for defamation and malicious falsehood over the road test that we broadcast of the Tesla Roadster in December 2008. The normal procedure for the BBC in a legal case is to acknowledge receipt of the other party's claim, and then say no more and get on with preparing its defence for court.

Tesla, however, doesn't seem content to wait for the legal eagles to settle matters. On the contrary, it's been very busy promoting its side of the argument through the media. Why even last night the Top Gear office accidentally received an email sent from a Public Relations firm to The One Show, asking if it would like to have the Tesla spokesperson on their programme to talk about the case. It says: "PHA Media represent Tesla and this could make for a fantastic interview." And the PHA man's not finished there. "The presenters could have some fun with this." He adds. "Matt and Alex could even take the Tesla for a spin and test it out, reaffirming its virtues?" Plenty of respect for editorial independence in that last line there and I wish the chaps from PHA Media all the best in their crusade.

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Source, and more article of what he says