Remember the video we posted not too long ago on Clarkson reviewing the electric Tesla? Well, Tesla Motors is crying foul on a few of the claims made by Jeremy Clarkson in his recent review of the electric Roadster. You might recall that Clarkson ran out of juice while flinging the slinky Lotus-derived Tesla around the Top Gear test track. This was the main point driven home by the TG crew as to why electric vehicles are not yet ready for prime-time. Not so fast, says Rachel Konrad, Senior Communications Manager at Tesla Motors. Clarkson’s Roadster still had 20% battery capacity left when it was pushed into a nearby hanger. Why the deception? We can’t imagine Clarkson ever calling an end to his tail-out fun just because the gas power gauge reads a quarter-tank.
Another salient point from the TG review centered around a brake failure. Again, according to Konrad, the problem was actually a blown fuse, and although Clarkson makes it seem in his video review as if he was without a Roadster to continue driving while repairs were being made, that was simply not the case — the other car was all charged up and ready to go. Lastly, Clarkson harps on the Tesla’s 16-hour recharge time. It does indeed take that long to recharge from a standard outlet, but that’s like filling your gas tank with an eye dropper. If absolutely necessary, it’ll work, but there are much better solutions available. Tesla offers chargers that can replenish its Roadster in as little as 3.5-hours.
We will have to wait for TG’s response but meanwhile our guess is as good as yours on why Clarkson would make such comments.
By Jeremy Korzeniewski of AutoBlog
