'Top Gear' did not libel Tesla, says high court

Electric sports car manufacturer Tesla Motors has today lost a significant part of its libel battle with the BBC's Top Gear, after complaining about a review on the motoring programme that showed its Roadster model constantly running out of battery.

Justice Tudgendhat ruled in the high court today that no Top Gear viewer would have reasonably compared the car's performance on the Top Gear test track to driving on a public road, reports The Guardian.

The judge said that the contrast between "the style of driving and the nature of the track as compared with the conditions on a public road" was so great that "no reasonable person could understand that the performance on the [Top Gear] track is capable of a direct comparison with a public road".

However, the case continues on other charges levied by Tesla, including that the Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson "maliciously" made false statements about the Roadster in the review.

In March, Tesla sued Top Gear over the show's 2008 piece on the Roadster, claiming that it "contained lies and misinformation about the Roadster's performance, behaviour and reliability".

The US car maker accused the programme of using 'staged" footage to create the impression that the car had run out of battery, along with suffering various mechanic faults.

Clarkson said in the programme that the Roadster ran out of battery after 55 miles on the Top Gear test track, just over a quarter of the 200 miles that Tesla claimed it could achieve.

In its legal filing, Tesla claimed that it had seen the "continuing impact" of the review on its reputation, due to the episode being "repeatedly" re-shown on BBC television channels, DVDs, video on-demand services such as BBC iPlayer and third-party channels such as Dave.

The BBC has always said that Tesla's entire claim should be struck out.

Last week, the BBC was forced to admit that a deal to produce Top Gear satnavs voiced by Clarkson had breached its own editorial guidelines.

> Jeremy Clarkson rejects Top Gear "fake" driving row