Do you remember a Top Gear episode involving the Tesla Roadster? If not, you may
well be in good company, but the Californian firm appears to be doing its best to keep the
episode in the public eye, even though it made its Roadster look a little ordinary.
Jeremy Clarkson and chums put the Tesla through its paces in order to determine if the
company's claim - namely that the vehicle could do 200 miles on a single charge – was
actually true. The results came in at an unimpressive 55 miles. This infuriated the folks at
Tesla and they tried to sue the Top Gear show for libel. Having been thrown out once in
October, the High Court once more threw the case out in late February.
Mr Justice Tugendhat said that Tesla's amendment was "not capable of being defamatory
at all, or, if it is, it is not capable of being a sufficiently serious defamatory meaning to
constitute a real and substantial tort".
The BBC said of the outcome: "We are pleased Mr Justice Tugendhat has ruled in
favour of the BBC on both the issues before the court, first in striking out Tesla's libel
claim against the BBC; and secondly in describing Tesla's malicious falsehood claim as
so 'gravely deficient' it too could not be allowed to proceed."
Given the battering that some brands of car have undergone at the hands of the Top Gear
team, it seems unwise of Tesla to have gone to such lengths; such a claim of defamation
is virtually unheard of in motor journalism or TV, fewer still have been successful.
That they lost the battle will surely see some fuming auto executives over in California, but the story is unlikely to give rise to fears that the model might be subject to a vehicle recovery operation more often than its rivals, enjoying as it does a very robust reputation. Indeed, the firm continues to push the boundaries of electric technology; a newer electric sports car from Tesla can reportedly reach 60mph in 3.7 seconds and travel for 245 miles on a single charge.
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