Top Gear British TV Show Faked Tesla Battery Failure

[Puppyjump]

Interesting bit of info; Top Gear faked the Tesla running out of battery power on it's Tesla show.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=3a7_1230707142

Top Gear also noted that a second Tesla broke down. Given that they faked the battery going dead, can you trust them on the validity of the breakdown? After all, they could have staged the breakdown intentionally to make the Tesla look bad.

One would have to ask why Top Gear would do this. Did Chevron give their producer a new Mustang?

 

[tostino]

That sounds about as shady a deal as there can be. I don't really know about other "reviews" done by the show, and how fair they are... but that one wasn't for sure.

 

[Ben]

Firstly, Top Gear is an entertainment show first and a car show second.

Secondly, they were merely showing what they would've had to do had they depleted the battery.

Thirdly, they're just having a bit of fun, I can't believe people take things so seriously.

 

[monster]

clarkson is shockingly biast against anything eco friendly. he is one of the only remaining public global warming deniers.

 

[dogman dan]

I watched top gear a few times. Struck me as a bunch of idiots with big mouths. Wait a minuite! I just described myself. :lol: :lol:

 

[miro13car]

What a stupid idea of TOP GEAR - TO PUSH into the ...
well it is electric what pollution it would produce driven into the building???????
They should push all this stinking gassers into that building also, did they?
MC

 

[northernmike]

Big oil must hate Jay Leno.

He loved the Tesla!

I read a biography of Nikola Tesla last year and am in awe of the man. For a car to take his namesake, it's a big deal. But, he too dealt with folks trying to prove his work was "fake" his whole life, and still there's debate.

That's the problem with electricity, I guess - it looks too much like magic.

You can't see it, smell it, hear it ...

Unless you can understand how to meter it properly.

For me - there will never be enough energy density. More will always be better!

Anyway thanks for bringing this to our attention. Now I know who pays Clarkson's tabs, I can see better who he is.

 

[Toorbough ULL-Zeveigh]

anyone recall the infamous 'elch' test of the mercedes smart-car?
stopped reading car mags & watching car review shows entirely after that one.

 

[knightmb]

Firstly, Top Gear is an entertainment show first and a car show second.

Secondly, they were merely showing what they would've had to do had they depleted the battery.

Thirdly, they're just having a bit of fun, I can't believe people take things so seriously.

You know it better than I do. What will happen, someone will take the show out of context and put up a you tube video "Top Gear proves that the Tesla roadster is all hype on mileage" and most will believe it because they may not know much about the show, but it will look like some kind of official review.

 

[CGameProgrammer]

That segment was aired months ago and this has already been discussed to death. The first time, they ran the car til it was fairly low, but not 'empty', and the car automatically impaired its performance at that point to run efficiently, so they couldn't continue racing on the track until they charged it. They of course could still drive it.

The second incident was a fuse blew related to the brakes, but the brakes continued to work. The fuse should not have blown of course so that is a reliability problem but it wasn't as severe as they made it out to be.

But Top Gear is entertainment. It's a great show but you wouldn't rely on it for accurate car reviews.

 

[wasp]

i have to agree it's a great show...very entertaining