Tesla Sues BBC TV’s Top Gear Show Over Roadster Libel
Posted By Tafline Laylin On March 30, 2011 @ 12:30 pm In automotive,Green Transportation | 3 Comments
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A full two years after Jeremy Clarkson poked fun at the Tesla [5] Roadster on the hit show Top Gear, the automotive company has slapped the BBC with a lawsuit. On the show, Clarkson acts more like a child in a grown-up suit than a reckless lawbreaker, but he complained on air about the electric vehicle’s 55 mile range and pushed it into a garage as though the battery had gone flat. Tesla claims there is no way the car ran out of juice. Read on for more details and a short clip of the offending footage we caught on Engadget [6] this morning.
Tesla [7] gave the show’s three stars, who make up “The Stig,” two cars to work with, neither of which dropped below a 25% charge [8]. So pushing the car into the garage was nothing more than a funny prank. The automakers might have laughed off the stunt if Top Gear didn’t have 350 million adoring groupies hanging on Clarkson’s every word. Instead, two (suspiciously long) years later,Tesla [9] has charged the BBC with libel and malicious falsehood for depicting the Roadster as an under-performing road vehicle.
Via Engadget [6]
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[5] Tesla: http://inhabitat.com/tesla-chief-bets-on-capacitors-over-batteries-for-future-of-electric-vehicles/
[6] Engadget: http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/30/tesla-sues-top-gear-for-libel-new-stig-unavailable-for-comment/
[7] Tesla: http://www.teslamotors.com/roadster
[8] charge: http://inhabitat.com/microsoft-launches-database-to-help-ev-drivers-find-the-cheapest-charging-stations/
[9] Tesla: http://inhabitat.com/tesla-motors-model-x-electric-suv-to-hit-the-streets-by-2013/
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