Top Gear presents its side of story about Tesla Roadster {w/video}— Autoblog Green

Tesla vs. Top Gear– Click above to view Top Gear's reviewafter the jump

Teslahas gone to great lengths to publicize itslibel suit againstTop Gearfor the program's 2008 review of the Tesla Roadster. The suit claims thatTG's review of the car was rigged, and its assertion that the car doesn't work in the real world had been decided even before Clarkson drove the car.

Until now, there had been no response from the BBC orTop Gear, other than to say they would defend themselves. According toTop Gearproducer Andy Wilman, it's their policy to hold back any comment until the matter goes to court. Since Tesla has been so vocal about the case, though, Wilman decided to issue a response.

Wilman responds to Tesla's claims that the show lied about the car's brakes being broken, that its range is only 55 miles and that an overheated motor immobilized the car.Top Gearsays the 55-mile range claim came from Tesla engineers who studied data gathered from the car after the test day. Wilman stands by his show's claim that the brakes broke, saying a blown fuse in the vacuum pump made pedal effort abnormally high, and that Tesla wouldn't let them continue the test until the problem was solved.

Whatever side of the matter you stand on, the facts of the case will have to shake out in court. The only thing that seems certain at this point is that the case will likely be long and messy.Click past the jumpto seeTop Gear's original review and draw your own conclusions.

Source