Sometimes the media don't quite know what they're talking about.

And so it was with a story that had actress Anne Hathaway importing one of the first 2014 BMW i3 electric cars from Germany for her husband because she didn't want to wait for it to go on sale in the U.S. next spring.

Anne Hathaway

Anne Hathaway

The story, which appeared in multiple outlets--including Arizona Central--was credited to Bang Showbiz.

That entity bills itself as "the world's premier entertainment news agency providing the most exciting celebrity news," but oddly does not appear to have the story on its own site--which hasn't been updated in two weeks.

More restrained coverage in the New York Daily News and the UK's Daily Mail, among others, simply indicated that Hathaway had "gone for a ride" in the car driven by her husband, Adam Shulman.

The idea that anyone, even a famous actress, could legally import a German-market car is somewhere between unlikely and idiotic.

The car shown in the photos is a European pre-production version of the BMW i3, one of a number temporarily imported by the maker for the Los Angeles Auto Show held in November.

Those cars are now being distributed across the country for test drives at dealers and elsewhere.

Obviously, some of them are being loaned to celebrities to use under the eyes of the paparazzi, thereby bringing free public relations and marketing for the car in anticipation of its spring launch.

If you look at the photos in the Daily News and Daily Mail links, there's a number on the windshield ("27" in this case) that will be familiar to anyone who attended the LA Show or got a ride in one of those cars.

Moral of the story: Don't believe everything you read--or at least check it with a reputable source.

[hat tip: Brian Henderson]

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