Jeremy Clarkson has denied that Top equipment has never written a scathing review of Tesla after his successor Chris Harris claimed the BBC show had been “naughty” in its treatment of Elon Musk’s electric car.
In his weekly column in The sun Newspaper, Clarkson said he was raised “kind of badly” when Harris said The Joe Rogan Experience Podcast that the 2008 Tesla test was actually faked.
“Joe and Chris perpetuate the myth that my Tesla road test was unfair,” Clarkson wrote. “On Top equipment We’ve pranked and annoyed a lot of people over the years. But our driving tests have always been scrupulously fair.”
In his review of the Tesla Roadster, Clarkson said the battery ran out after 55 miles on a race track, the vehicle’s brakes failed, the engine overheated and it took 16 hours to charge.
But it wasn’t all rude. During a drag race with a Lotus Elise, Clarkson was impressed by the roadster’s speed. “I can’t believe it. It’s biblically fast. This car is electric – in the truest sense of the word,” he said.
Rogan said Clarkson and the BBC had “treated Elon (Musk) dirtier than anyone else” with their review of the Tesla. “Oh, that was cheeky of them,” Harris replied.
Rogan continued: “They did something terrible. I talked to him (Musk) about it and he was angry. They pretended his car died and they made it a sketch. And this was in the early days of Tesla.”
Harris added: Top equipment would “reverse engineer” a result, meaning that producers would agree on a goal for a post and moderators would help achieve that goal.
Musk’s Tesla sued the BBC over the review and ultimately lost. In 2013, a British appeals court dismissed the company’s claim that Clarkson’s provocative review had damaged its reputation.
At the time, Top equipment Executive producer Andy Wilman said: “I am delighted that the Court of Appeal has upheld the previous ruling and the case has been dismissed. I would also like to apologise to the judges for having to see so much Top equipment.”
During his performance on The Joe Rogan ExperienceHarris was generous to Clarkson, calling him “the best” and revealing that he had initially ruled out Top equipment because he would be an “idiot” if he thought he could succeed his predecessor. Harris joined the show in 2016.
