Tesla Motors announced yesterday that it has sued BBC's Top Gear TV show for “libel and malicious falsehood.” The American automaker’s action refers to a Top Gear episode aired on December 14 2008, when Jeremy Clarkson tested the Tesla Roadster.
According to Tesla, the show “contained lies and misinformation about the Roadster's performance, behavior and reliability.” Tesla Motors considers the breakdowns of the Roadster that allegedly occurred during the Top Gear episode were “staged” and that the statements made during the show are untrue.
More specifically, Tesla claims Top Gear misrepresented that:
- The Roadster ran out of charge and had to be pushed into the Top Gear hangar by 4 men.
- The Roadster’s true range is only 55 miles per charge (not 211).
- One Roadster’s motor overheated and was completely immobilized as a result.
- The other Roadster’s brakes were broken, rendering the car undriveable.
- That neither of the two Roadsters provided to Top Gear was available for test driving due to these problems.
Tesla said it simply wants Top Gear to stop airing this episode and correct the record. The company said that the legal action came after BBC ignored “repeated attempts to contact the BBC, over the course of months”. On top of that, the EV carmaker is seeking damages of “no more than £100,000” for libel and malicious falsehood.
Interestingly, in Tesla's complaint, the company's UK director of sales and marketing, Don Cochrane, is said to have expressed concern about the fair portrayal of the Roadster after having seen on the set a script written before any of the two Teslas were driven, which read: “It's just a shame that in the real world, it absolutely doesn't work.” These are almost the same words Clarkson used as a conclusion to the Roadster review.
Serious accusations, to which the BBC has answered by stating its support for the show. "We can confirm that we have received notification that Tesla have issued proceedings against the BBC. The BBC stands by the program and will be vigorously defending this claim,” said a Top Gear spokeswoman.
We'll keep you updated with further developments on this case. In the meantime, scroll down to see the Top Gear review of the Tesla.
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