Electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla is knee-deep in controversy, this time in relation to the use of their Roadster on a popular BBC motoring showing show. Citing inaccurate and unfair portrayal of the EV, Tesla has filed a law suit against Top Gear, specifically naming producer Andrew Wilman and presenter Jeremy Clarkson in the motion.
The accusation relates to a segment during which the crew were shown manually pushing the Roadster into a hanger after the battery ran flat, also suggesting that one of the cars they had been supplied with had a fault with the brakes while the other’s overheated. Tesla have adamantly refuted such claims an allege none of them to be true, accusing the show of damaging the company name simply for entertainment value.
Although two years have passed since the episode in question, worldwide re-runs are broadcast to millions of homes every day which, in Tesla’s opinion, simply perpetuates the untruths and opens them up to the entire world.
The latest is a string of high-profile law suits involving Tesla since the company’s relatively recent incarnation. However, the explosive popularity of Top Gear along with worldwide exposure the show is give will likely see the latest action drawn a great deal more attention than previous instances.
