Uh oh, here we go again. Or not?
The crew of the British car show Top Gear have been spotted in the British town of Lincoln, traveling in a pair of electric cars, the 2011 Nissan Leaf and a Peugeot iOn (which will be sold in the States as the 2012 Mitsubishi 'i').
Hosts Jeremy Clarkson and James May are sufficiently big celebrities in their home country that the sighting merited a photo story in the local newspaper.
The pair had visited Lincoln seeking recharging stations for the pair of electric cars, which they were attempting to drive across the U.K. As the newspaper noted, "unfortunately there are none in the county yet."
Remarkably, the pair happened to "break down" just outside the offices of another local newspaper, the Lincolnshire Echo (perhaps ensuring maximum publicity for the upcoming episode).
They finally had to "recharge the cars through university windows" after leaving in gasoline-powered cars.
Tesla versus Top Gear
So we suspect that the pre-written script for an episode in the 17th season of the show--airing in the U.K. in June--will be a variation on the pre-written script of the episode in which they inferred that a Tesla Roadster had run out of battery power during their tests.
It hadn't, although it appears the episode has been taken as gospel by millions of Top Gear fans. Tesla subsequently sued the BBC over the episode.
But, at this point, accuracy and fairness have little to do with Top Gear. It's entertainment, after all. Facts, balanced presentation, context ... those are all for lesser journalists, ones not nearly as famously outrageous as the Top Gear boys.
You have been warned.
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