[joep]

I haven't seen the episode yet, but I'm curious what others think of it?

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/03...Gear-For-Libel
http://www.allcarselectric.com/blog/...ctric-roadster

[tbernard]

Here's another source from the other day, along with the video segment.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/30/t...e-for-comment/

[markwemple]

I'd have to saythat one of tesla's claims is likely bogus. The issue of how far you candrive it is always related to how fast, and on top gear they tend to drive 10/10ths sothe fact that it did 55 miles instead of 211 is understandable. Heck I have yet to see a test of an electric car where it was able to drive as far as the manufacturer claimed. Further, top gear had several positives about it and regularly refer to it as a bench mark for evs.

[flipb]

Could be interesting, as Tesla is basing their claims on the cars' data logging. They claim that the battery was never exhausted while Top Gear was testing.

Got to be careful though... Jeremy & friends are likely to start treating Tesla on-air with scorn usually reserved for the Morris Marina.

[spiffyjiff]

and, uh, did he say at the end that it was the same lap time as a GT3?? can that be right?

[markwemple]

Can't remember but it does have regenerative braking which helps slow it down and lots of torque.

[HateDCRoads]

Tesla is a cool concept, but stating it is not real-world practical is totally obvious. Don't know how you can sue someone for stating the obvious, but hey, that's California for you.

I looked at the clip - and the claim that the battery was never exhausted is true. But Top Gear never claimed it was - they calculated the drain rate and came up with 55 Miles. Sounds reasonable to me, and most of what he said seemed to be true. In fact, he said many complimentary things about the car as well.

Let me propose an alternate hypothesis: With a gigantic global depression, the market for $100,000 electric sportscars that you can drive 100 miles a day is pretty soft. Building cars is expensive. I suspect that the Tesla investors (who are not used to businesses with real capital expenditure) no longer wish to keep dumping money into the company, so wouldn't it be convenient to make Top Gear the scapegoat?

As for the lap time, I can believe that - electric motors have an incredible amount of torque which makes a huge difference in how fast you can get around a track.

[Dr K]

My favorite line from the Engaget report:

"Now it's time for the Beeb to roll out its crew of tame racing lawyers. Some say their suits are made of wool, and that their briefcases contain actual briefs. All we know is they're very well compensated."

[JmuRiz]

Originally Posted by HateDCRoads

I looked at the clip - and the claim that the battery was never exhausted is true. But Top Gear never claimed it was - they calculated the drain rate and came up with 55 Miles. Sounds reasonable to me, and most of what he said seemed to be true. In fact, he said many complimentary things about the car as well.

I thought the same thing. I guess Tesla just wants it's name back in the news...

[Dr K]

Perhaps they waited 2 years because the biggest negative in the report - reliability - needed to be fixed. My one friend who has one had to send it back to the factory (for months) for serious reliability issues. Anyone know if they've handled the reliability issues?