Tesla loses Top Gear libel case

Mr H, I never said Tesla were crap cars. I think the S is almost perfect; electric, quick, good looking etc. I just think it's priced far too high here. They seem to have decided it's a premium brand (which is probably right to a point), but then decided to only sell the top end versions at top end money.

In the US it's priced against the 5 Series BMW/Merc E class, but here it's going for top end 7 series/S class money. It's the old British thing of making it exclusive and therefore getting away with selling 25 in a year for the same profit as the Americans would make on 40. Toyota did it with their nonsensely overpriced PIP going for £32,000/$48,000. OK, they may sell a couple hundred and can put a tick in the 'eco' box for minimal effort, but with this attitude among car sellers here, EV's and plug ins will be nothing more than a rich mans curio.

Shame.

 

What's wrong here? Edward R. Murrow said it all....

“To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we
must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful.”
Edward R. Murrow

Of course, in this era, nowbody knows who Edward R. Murrow was, or did.

 

This is incorrect in the US market. The 85 kW pack is priced against the series 7/S classes. I am surprised it is that different in the UK. But if the tax structure on vehicles is such that you can get a Model S for the same cost as a 5 series it is even a better deal there I suppose.
I have been test driving many of these cars. For drive experience it puts them to shame, no competition in my mind.
For tech toys in the car, the other brands definitely have the edge. Holographic displays, DVD players for the kids, etc are no whee to be seen in the Model S, yet

As for the 60kW pack, here in the States it my be priced closer to the 5 series.

It is a luxury car though, you may as well complain that the BMW 7 series is priced too high.

 

My UK friends in the London area are performance addicts and will pay whatever. The Roadster and Model S (85kWh with Performance option) target these buyers while developing the technology and manufacturing processes to produce a more affordable model in a few years.
I am curious about the state of the electrical supply in the UK as I think this is what will determine the political acceptance of EVs. Japan seems to be having a backlash against EVs after their nuclear generation was shuttered following the earthquake and tsunami. How is the UK grid fueled?

 

lol don't ask. The EU are insisting our large coal powered stations are turned off for environmental reasons, though encourage them to be converted to biomass which requires the transport of millions of tonnes of wood from Canada via boat.

The Nuclear power station are all getting on a bit and due for replacement but nobody wants to pay the massive upfront construction costs or the decommissioning costs.

Wind and solar are fine but no more than about 5% of supply and nowhere near enough to power industry.

So we are using natural gas power stations and importing this gas from all the worlds trouble spots. Electricity costs are rising massively every year, usually by at least 10% a year. Seriously considering solar PV and maybe if it gets more crazy, I might consider off grid. I said that as a joke to someone a year ago and actually it's not cost effective yet - but it's not far off.

Interesting link showing live real time updates on the UK grid supply. Usually about 25% is CO2 free.

UK Grid Live - Our Green Energy - Ecotricity

 

My prediction is that sooner or later we will close all of our power stations and simply buy our power from France, the nation who have accepted that nuclear is the only viable way forward for the time being

 

Nah. We will build a pipeline for natural gas over to you before we let the French close down the Indian restaurants.

 

lol

 

Phht.....

I've got to side with The British courts and Top Gear here.

Top Gear is a pure entertainment show. With a very loyal audience. They've raced double decker motor homes to oblivion on a race track. They purposely drive vehicles into Piano's.

I can almost guarantee you nobody is watching Top Gear and using anything they show or say as a platform for a decision for or against actually purchasing a Tesla. If you are an actual potential Tesla buyer and you let a Top Gear segment sway your purchasing decision? Well IMO you weren't really a Tesla customer anyway.

Whether you like Top Gear or not, and I personally have enjoyed it, I think everyone knows what Top Gear is about. I also think anyone interested in a Tesla, know what Tesla is all about.

The lawsuit seems ridiculous to me. Akin to getting an arrest warrant against Yogi Bear for stealing pic-nic baskets.

 

BBC: Top Gear Tesla didn't run out of juice • The Register

Top gear also confirmed it in court on the original lawsuit and on appeal. Do you also want the court excuse for why the pushing was in the top gear script before testing the tesla? They said they all are scripted, but Clarkson sometimes changes the script after testing the cars. Most of us american's had no idea of that before the accusations.

 

You really don't want to take too much notice of what you read on that site lol.
I know someone who has been published on there and the Huffington Post. Simply submits articles on subjects he knows nothing about and they get published.

"Tesla has been involved in more lawsuits than most Silicon Valley firms I’ve written about in my career"
Source: Reuters.

Read between the lines....

 

Let's translate this into ICE speak shall we?
"That means, even when gas stations are available, sometimes the user will be in a hurry and not put enough gas in the tank to get where they want to go."

Anyone feel sorry for that guy, or think it reflects badly on the car? Didn't think so.

 

That was the source for my source wired. The court appeared to care about whether tesla was damaged, not whether it was faked. I don't fell like searching better sources for information.

Top Gear row: Tesla loses appeal over Jeremy Clarkson review | Media | guardian.co.uk
The judges were trying to determine if faking the shot damaged tesla, they were not questioning whether tesla was correct about top gear faking the shot. Top gear did apologize for the judge having to watch top gear over and over again.

But agree, that sight like top gear likely are not a good basis of facts.

 

My understanding is that in libel cases it is the consideration of damage that is the main concern as it is the value of the damage that is considered when monetary damages are awarded. As it is the court awarded Top Gear £100,000 in costs.

I can't help feeling that the amount of people Tesla sue seems for all the world like crying wolf.

You are absolutely correct and I'm pleased that you have now recognised that Top Gear is not to be considered a good source of factual information. It is a light hearted humorous programme. This fact has been well understood by the UK audience from the day it started.

 

So austingreen, sorry I don't know your name, shall we shake hands and agree to play nicely

 

sure. My name is Ed. I never thought you were playing poorly.

 

Well Ed I have to say I did enjoy the debate

 

Or bully boys? Like Apple, who seem to try and sue every man and his dog. I'm quite unhappy I've not had a writ from them as I must be in the minority!



(ps. If anyone from Apple is reading this, don't both trying to even attempt to sue me. I have nothing worth taking and even if I did, my ex-wife has first dibs )

 

I didn't know of lawsuits by tesla other than against top gear and Fisker. BBC/Top Gear has sued harper collins to keep them silent about the stig. BBC Loses Its Attempt To Silence Top Gear Test Driver The Stig From Revealing His Identity | Techdirt
I don't really watch the show, I have only seen segments people have sent me links to, but I guess many people must like it.

Apple uses law suits as a business weapon.

I don't like lawsuits, and their are too many lawsuits, but sometimes these powerful media companies need to get sued to keep them honest. Really it gets the word out. We had a huge interactive/film/music show this last week here, and I happened into a panel on band conflicts. Amazing stuff when egos get involved. One of the panelists was East Bay Ray (dead Kenedies) who sued Jello Biafra. The agreement was Jello would get about half the money, but started stealing more. When the band ended up suing to get their money, Jello lost and appealed. On appeal he lost again, the jury gave the band members an extra $20K for malice. 3 members of the beach boys each sued the other two. Lots of money, bad personalities, they didn't have a firm agreement and each wanted more of the big pile of stuff they earned. It makes the Tesla lawsuit look civilized.

 

Ha, now you admitted you haven't seen any episode. That is why you don't know what this show is about, it never intent to be factual or doing any real road test of any car. They never instrument up any car to make accurate measurement of anything and all is what the driver's own opinion or seat of pants description.