Atmosphere electric as Tesla locks horns with Top Gear

by Steven Mostyn - Mar 31 2011, 11:49

Well known for sometimes walking a fine line where controversy is concerned, hit BBC show Top Gear has now landed itself in potentially hot water with electric car maker Tesla Motors.

More pointedly, California-based Tesla has clearly taken exception to Top Gear's coverage of its 125mph Roadster vehicle—involving a race with a petrol-powered Lotus Elise—to the point where it has launched a lawsuit against the show citing both libel and malicious falsehood.

Tesla is accusing Top Gear of misrepresenting the Roadster by telling viewers the car carries a paltry battery range of just 55 miles, and that one of the two test cars it provided suffered brake failure while the other was struck down by overheating problems.

The electric car maker insists the Roadster's battery capacity is good for 200 miles, and that the brake and overheating issues described by Top Gear did not happen and were faked to show the electric car in a poor light.

The Daily Mail reports that Tesla's suspicions regarding the Top Gear team's conduct were aroused when its UK director of sales and marketing saw two show scripts criticising the Roadster before the race had even been run.

“At the time we were good sports,” outlined Ricardo Reyes, Tesla's vice president of communications, in a blog post. “Yet the show continues to air... The programme's lies are repeatedly and consistently re-broadcast to hundreds of millions of viewers on BBC channels and websites.”

Show presenter Jeremy Clarkson, researcher Gavin Whitehead and executive producer Andrew Wilman are all named in the suit.

During the show, which aired back in 2008 (see below), Clarkson said of the Roadster: “It's just a shame that in the real world it doesn't seem to work.” This is apparently a line clearly printed in the aforementioned scripts.

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