Elon Musk explained his reasons for taking legal action against the BBC after one of its programs, Top Gear, portrayed Tesla in a less than favorable manner.
Despite the prevalence of Teslas on the roads today, indicating a strong recovery from the review, Musk at the time felt his company’s reputation was on the line.
The controversy began with a 2008 episode of the popular BBC series, which is known for its reviews of various automobiles.
During the show, host Jeremy Clarkson stated that the Tesla Roadster’s battery would deplete “after just 55 miles” on their track, contrary to Tesla’s claim of a 200-mile range.
“If it does run out, it is not a quick job to charge it up again,” Clarkson added.
The episode included scenes showing the crew pushing the Roadster into a hangar for recharging.
Following the broadcast, Tesla engaged libel specialists Carter-Ruck and alleged that the episode had led to the loss of 200 Roadster sales and incurred additional costs of $171,000.
The company also argued that it negatively impacted investor confidence.
Years after filing the lawsuit, Musk revisited the issue during a conversation with Joe Rogan.
He recalled that Tesla was then a ‘small company’ with only a ‘few cars’, but they had agreed to be reviewed on Top Gear.
Musk recounted: “One of our engineers goes, delivers the car, and then he sees a script on the table. He’s like ‘how’d you write the script? We only just gave you the car’.”
According to Musk, the script was pre-written to include a scene where the Tesla supposedly broke down.
“It’s messed up,” he commented, before alleging: “The car never broke down. They just pretended that it did, and they wrote the script.”
Despite Musk’s assertions regarding the episode’s production, in 2013, a court of appeal dismissed Tesla’s complaint that it suffered reputational damage.
Appeal court judge Lord Justice Moore-Bick stated: “In the basis of the material currently before the court I do not think that there is any real prospect of Tesla’s being able to demonstrate at trial that it has suffered any quantifiable loss by reason of any of the actionable statements.”