News Bot Posted December 18, 2008 Posted December 18, 2008 Top Gear?s Tesla Roadster review we posted Monday angered a few people at the Silicon Valley startup. Spokeswoman Rachel Konrad spoke with Wired Magazine about Clarkson?s unabashed words. Here's what she had to say. All was well in Top Gear land for the review of the Tesla Roadster. Clarkson?s usual suspicious attitude was quickly wiped clean when he raced a standard Lotus Elise, as the little electric-that-could tore past the Elise in the straights, but like the stereotype of many American cars, took a crap in the corners. Then it lost battery power after 55 miles (of heavy track use) and would require 16 hours to recharge. A second Tesla Roadster was brought out and broke soon after with Clarkson stating the motor was overheating. Clarkson went back to the first car only to find that the brakes were busted. Things weren?t looking good for the Silicon Valley startup. Tesla spokesperson, Rachel Konrad (as an aside we know quite a number of young lads who fancied Konrad during her time spent in Detroit) was more than a little peeved upon hearing the bad review and decided she needed to step in. Konrad states the lithium-ion batteries never lost their charge, and more specifically, neither car?s charge level dropped below 20 percent. Konrad says, ?They never had to push a car off the track because of lack of charge or a fault and it isn?t clear why the segment included footage showing exactly that.? Curious as to why Clarkson states that the Tesla needs 16 hours to charge, she says, ?The vast majority of people who have a Tesla in their garage have much faster systems that recharge from dead to full in as little as 3.5 hours (using the Tesla Motors High Power Connector).? The issue with the engine overheating wasn?t addressed, but Konrad says that the brake failure in the first car was an issue with a blown fuse. ?The Roadster was back up and running literally within minutes,? she said. Although Clarkson was his usual self, complaining about anything and everything, he did appear to enjoy the car, even calling himself a ?volt head? during the first part of the segment. Clarkson?s voice carries weight the world over, but considering the little Tesla Roadster's current market — Silicon Valley execs with money burning a hole in their pocket and eco-freaks; Does it matter? [via Wired] View the full article
gerags Posted December 19, 2008 Posted December 19, 2008 I did wonder why the TG guys said that both the Teslas had failed, yet still managed to get the Stig out on the reack with it.
Reg Posted December 19, 2008 Posted December 19, 2008 I did wonder why the TG guys said that both the Teslas had failed, yet still managed to get the Stig out on the reack with it. I assume that the Stig might get in a car before Clarkson, just because he always appears to drive it second doesn't mean it was actually filmed in that order............
dobbo Posted December 19, 2008 Posted December 19, 2008 Tesla spokesperson, Rachel Konrad (as an aside we know quite a number of young lads who fancied Konrad during her time spent in Detroit) was more than a little peeved.. TTIWWP Quick google search in images shows nothing....
Deleted_User Posted December 19, 2008 Posted December 19, 2008 Just for the record the Morse code on the picture says "You're full of it Clarskon" << their spelling mistake not mine
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