Top Gear vs Tesla: High Court rules no libel

Top Gear did not libel Tesla High Court rules

We’re sure you remember Tesla getting uppity about the Top Gear Episode where Jeremy claimed the Tesla Roadster has run out of charge after just 55 miles on the track at Dunsfold.

Well, that little spat has now reached the High Court in London. But it’s not good news for Tesla.

The High Court has ruled that Top Gear did not libel Tesla with the claims about the range of the Tesla Roadster. Which is exactly what everyone – apart from Elon Musk and Tesla - expected to happen.

Mr Justice Tugendhat said that Top gear viewers were not daft enough to think that the range of the Tesla Roadster on the track could be compared to its range on the road.

He could have gone on to say that Top Gear viewers have been regaled over the years with tales of cars on the Top Gear track getting as little as 3mpg, so they know the difference between fuel use on a track and on a public road. But he didn’t. Instead, he said:

In my judgment, the words complained of are wholly incapable of conveying any meaning at all to the effect that the claimant misled anyone.

This is because there is a contrast between the style of driving and the nature of the track as compared with the conditions on a public road…are so great that no reasonable person could understand that the performance on the track is capable of a direct comparison with a public road.

Which puts the kibosh on that bit of this particular daftness from Tesla.

The judgement on the libel action was delivered verbally this lunchtime, but the case continues over Tesla’s claim of malicious falsehood. The BBC says the whole claim should be struck out.

We’ll update when we get more.

Source: The Guardian

By Cars UK