Nissan fumes over BBC TV program 'Top Gear'

Sounds like good publicity for all. Nissan has nothing to worry about except more attention. The funny thing is electric cars are nothing new. Top Gear really went for the populist ratings with this ep. I'm waiting for Fox news to blast it soon. Nissan will come out on top of it all in the end.

It sounds like a pretty typical episode of Top Gear - I think Nissan are being over-sensitive. TG is a comedy programme based around cars and an electric car is an easy target.

I think TG may now claim to be the world's most popular tv show and Nissan could do with some publicity that does not concern how unreliable their cars have become since Renault took over and started sharing parts and technology.

Not saying I think Top Gear maybe didn't tread into a grey area here, but it is good to see that it is continuing its tradition of actually approaching car reviews with some degree of journalistic integrity and trying to uncover problems for potential buyers. The car shows in Japan are just pure PR for the companies, with nothing but talking heads from the design and marketing departments going on and on about how great the vehicle is. No objectivity or even coparisons to other vehicles/manufacturers is allowed.

Jeremy Clarkson can be funny, informative, and a complete a**se in equal parts. But it's a fact that recharging infrastructure is still iffy. I didn't see the programme, so I don't know if he was talking about electric cars in general or the Nissan in particular (which could well have enough capacity for most typical trips). Anyway, Nissan should calm down. Any consumer who makes a decision based solely on what Clarkson says is probably a gas-guzzling supercar fan and not Nissan's target customer anyway.

herefornow..top gear has journalistic integrity ????you're trying to be funny,right ??it's false from top to bottom , truth certainly doesnt get in the way of entertainment and this episode typifies that.

they have done this before with the Tesla Roadster in fact they are being sued

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-30/carmaker-tesla-sues-bbc-s-top-gear-over-electric-roadster-test.html

I love how Nissan have made this about them. Everyone in the UK ranks Nissan as the number 1 electric car company. Top Gear however were pointing out that until there is a structure of electric car recharge points they are not going to work! The UK barely has any places that offer to recharge these cars outside the biggest cities! Seriously the nearest place that charges an electric car to me is 120miles away!

Nissan get unrestricted access to the UK market, so they do alright.

I used to like JC until I heard he phoned Rupert Murdoch at midnight on New Year's Eve to wish him a happy new year. I believe he also said the Mitsubishi I was a "washing machine with doors on".

Its TV that's how things work. Also I think they did the same with Tesla. Also it's ironic since I'm watching Top Gear right now.

I'm not surprised.

Lincolnshire is home to twelve-fingered, sibling-marrying potato farmers whose experience with machinery extends all the way from sickles to hoes. Only a fool (and Clarkson certainly is that) would expect to be able to charge an electric car there.. I'm surprised (and disappointed) he didn't get lynched for being a wizard in his horseless carriage....

What I'd really like to know, would just love to know, but will never know, is if Clarkson gets a little money on the side for pushing or rubbishing any particular car. I really would like to know for god, the incentive to do it is pretty damn high ...

Top Gear however were pointing out that until there is a structure of electric car recharge points they are not going to work!

Really? Because the story sure reads as though what they were actually demonstrating is that if you leave home with less than half a charge and drive around in circles somewhere you know doesn't have a recharging point like a moron, you'll be stranded there.

He's a petrolhead, and nothing threatens a petrol head more than an electric car.

I took a look at one here in Japan. Key point is the leaf can quick charge to 80% in 20 mins. Not too bad. Quick visit to the restroom and a flip through a magazine and you're done.

Better yet, the sat-nav has an auto-trip planner which will ensure you make it safely to a charge point regardless of how long your trip is. These charge points being 7-11 stores and Nissan dealers. Pretty smooth.

With the one exception that the charge points are not exactly there yet............but they will be, provided pompus TV presenters don't scare everyone away.

The Leaf is an electric car, so wouldn't "Nissan blows a fuse..." be a more appropriate headline?

Clarkson's done this before when he reviewed the Tesla. I'm a Top Gear fan, but I'd never purchase a car based on Clarkson's opinion. Besides, I don't trust anyone who thinks an Aston Martin is a good car.

Nissan blasted the episode as misleading because the car was not fully charged before starting the journey, but in comments to the Times newspaper on Wednesday Clarkson refused to apologise, saying: “That’s how TV works.”

I don't like the man, but Jezzer just went up a few places in my ratings.

Lincolnshire is home to twelve-fingered, sibling-marrying potato farmers whose experience with machinery extends all the way from sickles to hoes. Only a fool (and Clarkson certainly is that) would expect to be able to charge an electric car there.. I'm surprised (and disappointed) he didn't get lynched for being a wizard in his horseless carriage....

Best comment on here! ^^

He pointed out that a device sending Nissan updates showed Clarkson had started the day with the battery only 40” charged and said the car appeared to have been driven in loops in Lincoln until the battery was flat.

I'm not a tin-foil-hatter, but I find then being able to know this much a bit disturbing

Another fine example of British superiority. But, wait, what has Clarkson or is group ever invented? Is he the Rush Limbaugh of automobiles? Or just another babbling babe making money with cruelty-style stand-up routines?

What scares people away from electric cars is simple ..... being limited to the places you can drive due to having to follow recharge points. If all stations had at least one electric charge point more people would buy them. Right now they are few and far between so everyone is avoiding them. That's all top gear were pointing out. OK they made it into a joke, but for anyone who watches the show we expect them to do that and it's what we like to watch.

If the article was about the lack of availability, they did a fine job. Nissan is over reacting - no surprise though. Electric cars are a waste. Not enough places to recharge and why on earth should grocery stores and whatnot pay to supply the sites?

What I don't understand is, if the cars are powered by batteries, why the need to wait while charging at all? Couldn't you just remove the exhausted battery and exchange it for a fully-charged one at a convenience store or a post office? Or am I missing something?

The Leaf is a great leap forward. No British companies can compete with this product. Sure, Clarkson or any dumb person knows that if you keep driving this vehicle, sooner or later you run out of juice. The future demand for electric cars will be limited unless they develop a self charge system. This is the reason why Prius is a benchmark for innovation. If you live in a high rise apartment in downtown, you might have to get 100 meter extension chord to charge the battery. The goverment or private companies will never build effective charging stations because it does not make money. Regardless, the demand for all electric cars will not increase. I rather buy Prius.

Ya, that was a rather pointless stunt wasn't it? But let's say in Southern California in Orange County, it actually makes a lot of sense to get all electric car because there are just so many charge stations... even at the beach parking lots. Clearly, UK is not ready.

What Jeremy forgot is that this could also happen with a gasoline car. I mean there are no stations to plug in the battery but also none for gasoline so that goes for both sides. either way Nissan should be happy for the promo

Electric cars hardly seem viable when we are constantly being told to save electricity as there isn't enough to meet demand. Where is the power going to come from?

Wow a lot here insulting the UK. You understand every country etc has a different sense of humour etc right?

You want to insult UK cars? Fine. There aren't really any as they are mainly owned by German companies. People in here need to grow up and keep on topic. This TV show is famous around the world for it's humour. It doesn't set out to insult a single country .... it insults them all including it's own.

@lucabrasi Changing the fuel cell is not a simple as changing the battery in a flashlight. The battery is roughly 300 kilos, it's located deep within the car (to lower the center of gravity) and could be potentially dangerous to remove if you don't have the proper training.

Perhaps they should run a program on me running out on gasoline in a big city in Japan a few hundred meters from a couple of gas stations but none would fill my tank up! I had to call JAF and wait for an hour for a few liters of gasoline...

Top Gear is one of the best shows on British TV. Sure Jeremy can be a tad arrogant and annoying at times, but the shows has massive audience viewer figures each week. The show has obtained an almost cult status in the UK, and I for one love it :)

Until a nationwide charging infrastructure is put into place (which would be fantastic) manufactures of electric cars will continue to be ridiculed by the motoring press.

Long Live Top Gear...

Top gear have been in Japan. They were showing off Nissan's fastest car at the time (maybe Toyotas I can't recall exactly) and built an entire show around being in Japan. Their fastest car VS their fastest public transport

@wontond

Thank you, I get it now :) Still, maybe one day in the future...?

@lucabrasi there is one electric car on the market where the batteries are easy to reach. However I believe it has 200 of them. It was designed to take advantage of the modern technology employed by cell phones and used their most effective batteries. I wouldn't like to change all of them! You may just be luckier if someone agrees to let you plug your car into their house mains for a small charge.

@lucabrasi My pleasure. That's probably the goal...to have a small, interchangeable power source, but I'm sure that's a long way off. The best would be to have the Mr. Fusion that powered the Delorean in Back to the Future ; )

@ Scotch

It doesn't set out to insult a single country ....

I think Top Gear did a pretty good job of hammering Mexico. But I know what you're saying. The British do have a different sense of humour, of which I am a fan. Nissan's probably looking for some cheap publicity on the Leaf, to which I say mission accomplished.

Trust me. Being Scottish we take a lot of stick from Jeremy but we know it's just part of the show and he insults areas all over the UK including his home area. It is unfortunate if a country take it to heart but that is up to them. As for electric cars. Yes they would be great to have. But I fear we are a long way off from having the recharge stations all over the UK, especially when we are still focusing on removing cars from the roads to ease congestion!

@Scotch

Thanks :) Two hundred batteries? I'll stick with my bicycle....

This guy is a moron, it is the second time he has dissed electric cars and called them unreliable. He hates them with a passion.

Not exactly Monty Python, but truely, a relative unknown making snide remarks. Once again, I feel it is beneath the dignity of such a brilliant engineering company such as Nissan to have responded to hooligan humor from spiteful children on foreign television programs. And it was blatantly unfair to intentionally run the battery out to prove that Britain doesn't have the infrastructure in place to service ANY electrical vehicles, and then accuse or blame the car company for manufacturing an electric car. How does Caruthers (or what ever his name is) get around in his golf cart? Little black sambos chasing after him with extra batteries? Elitist much?

How does Caruthers (or whatever his name is) get around in his golf cart?

Ha! Knowing Clarkson, he probably drives some monstrous SUV all over the greens while giving the finger to anyone who protests....

Only watched Top Gear a couple of times and then not all the way through - waxing lyrical over cars and driving fast isn't really my thing.

So Clarkson showed that if you drive and drive and drive an electric car, eventually the battery will go flat, and if you don't get to a charging station before that happens, you're stuck? Well hoodathunkit. Couldn't the same have been said of petrol cars when they first came out? Were there petrol stations dotted all over the country then, like there are now? No there weren't. Doubtless if he'd been around then Clarkson would have scoffed at the horseless carriage. Horses after all can be replenished at any roadside grassy knoll. And their emissions provide organic fertiliser for the garden.

Going slightly off topic, but this complaint about electric cars not going very far before they need a recharge - wouldn't it be a good thing if all vehicles needed a recharge every two or three hours or so? If every driver was obliged to take a 20-minute break every three hours, there'd be fewer drivers asleep at the wheel and fewer accidents. Wouldn't there?

Ok now watching the show. Yes he did run around the city with the car BUT he was looking for a CHARGE point as the Nissan showed his nearest one was 40miles away and he had 12miles of charge left. His major gripe with it was that the car itself showed that is would take 13HOURS to charge back up

beneath the dignity of such a brilliant engineering company such as Nissan to have responded to hooligan humor from spiteful children on foreign television programs.

I must respectfully disagree on two points.. 1) This little teapot tempest is great publicity for both Top Gear and the Nissan Leaf, and Nissan is smart to take the publicity. 2) There's no point in dismissing Top Gear as simply a "foreign television" program. The Nissan Leaf is being marketed in the UK, not just in Japan. Also, this very popular BBC program is shown in many countries around the world, including Japan, which is where I (a Canadian) have been watching it for years.

It's a tv show on cars that takes the p!ss out of everything and everyone. Some like it, some don't. But it has very high ratings.

This time they've slagged off electric cars of which Nissan was one of the cars featured. They also had a Peugeot which was far more expensive than the Nissan.

But the objective of the show wasn't to target Nissan. They concluded the only way for electric cars to work in the UK to have a dodgem style network above all of the roads because there aren't enough electric connections. In the entire county of Lincolnshire there were no electric points to charge the car. Obviously they could have gone to a County with electric connections but what would be the point of that, it was done to be entertaining. And it was.

On the whole it was quite complimentary to Nissan commenting how quiet it is and how they had to make new motors for the windscreen wipers as the previous ones were too noisey. In fact they showed that the Nissan was more powerful than the Peugeot.

Three weeks ago they featured the new Nissan GT and concluded that it was brilliant, or words to that effect. Nissan got excellent coverage from that episode.

Now watched the whole section about the electric cars (not just Nissan here folks). Jeremy happily said "I like the leaf" but it was the battery that was his gripe. At one point he drove 26miles and lost 40miles of range. The battery took 13hours to charge off of the mains. The nearest official charge point was 40miles away when already on a journey (something he may have avoided if he had planned for an electric car but he wasn't used to it). All in all he didn't really go up against Nissan. He just expressed that the idea of a battery doesn't sit well with him. The comparison that was mentioned was to think of every thing you have that uses batteries. How long does a charge last? How long until you need to replace the batteries on rechargeable devices like this car? The car was double the price of a normal car. Has roughly the same fuel economy as diesel cars and will need it's battery system removed after 4 or 5 years (less depending on use). You also have to remember that in the UK the speed limit is wel above the Japanese limit so the car will drain much faster

Not exactly Monty Python, but truely, a relative unknown making snide remarks.

Heh, one of the top rated shows in the world, and you say he's relatively unknown? And the show was making a valid point, that the infrastructure isn't in place for electric cars to be a valid choice outside large cities.

Is all British television sensationalist drivel, or is it just this show and anything that Rupert Murdoch had his grimy claws in?

Clarkson. I only know this guy from seeing he was in the news after he feel asleep at the beach and woke to find someone had written their opinion of him in sunscreen upon his unprotected forehead. Turbo!

http://www.thepoke.co.uk/2011/06/16/pranksters-find-clarkson-asleep-in-the-sun/

To add some perspective to the show/ Jeremy, if you haven't watched many shows please know that JC thinks Ferrari's are a "scaled down version of god". So as others have pointed out in other ways, it's not all about British supremacy.

As for making a point about battery-powered electric cars being lacking, they could have instead brought a chemist on the show to explain how energy densities of batteries will never improve significantly - as this is a physical limitation of storing electric charge in chemical form. But then this probably would not have gotten as many people's attention as the show did.

In Japan you can recharge your Leaf at any Nissan dealer shop, but still it takes some planning and research beforehand if you're going on a longer trip close to or exceeding the 200k range. It's a great city car but can leave you running on empty in the middle of nowhere if you dare to venture out in the country and get a bit careless.

I don't always leave home with everything fully charged. My phone, notebook and camera have died on me countless times. People have been known to run out of gas even in the city, so it's perfectly plausible that someone may attempt a trip with Leaf batteries charged only to 40%, just like they did in the show.

TG shouldn't have withheld such information, but still, it helped expose a bigger underlying truth - right now there is no or little infrastructure for electric cars outside Japan. Their conclusion was - don't buy an electric car right now, but I bet they will say the same thing even in a few years when we may see cars with a better range and quick charge points as ubiquitous as gasoline stations

So, you can dish out a joke but can't take one, eh? It's all so serious when the shoe is on the other foot. The new electric car technology isn't comparable to "petrol" vehicles (such a silly word. why can't you Euro's just say "gas" like the rest of the free world?), and no-one, the manufacturers included, has said so. So, Caruthers (a much more fitting name for a man that deals in cars) is blowing wind. And I am guessing that he is knowingly doing so. Aside from being your favorourite, he is relatively unknown in my end of the pool. We have "The Car Guys" from Boston and they've been sliming on people and cars since the Ford Pinto (renamed because Fireball 500 was already taken) . They are even something akin to real mechanics. In conclusion, you're defense of the un-funny Caruthers is a slip showing of your own nationalistic ferver (fervour?)

"petrol" vehicles (such a silly word. why can't you Euro's just say "gas" like the rest of the free world?)

Because the television show was in England, you know, where the English language comes from, where "gas" is the stuff you cook food with. American English is a dumbed-down form of English.

Aside from being your favorourite, he is relatively unknown in my end of the pool. We have "The Car Guys" from Boston and they've been sliming on people and cars since the Ford Pinto (renamed because Fireball 500 was already taken)

"The Car Guys", who are ABSOLUTELY unknown outside of America.

Top Gear won an Emmy in 2005. Not bad for some unknowns - perhaps they presented the award during the commercial or something.

Elbuda, you decided to insult the whole of the UK and not point out your anger at Jeremy. You were being as bad as he can be. The problem is that we KNOW that he does it for a laugh and joke.

@Elbuda

I'm on your side here. Sure, you're always very opinionated, kind of loud and just occasionally a tad obnoxious, but you say what you think. Clarkson, on the other hand, says whatever he thinks will stir up controversy....

how many loops did he have to make? It's called free advertising Nissan. Take your adversary lemons and make lemonade.

Take the same car and allow it to connect to the electrical grid in some manner, then you wouldn't need very large batteries at all, and could even make more for the same battery level. You'd need something between the grid, but once on the range would be superior than anything. Since we know the chemistry isn't getting much better, and Peak Oil was finally recognized by the IEA, it'll be the grid that will win over and above a petroleum liquid based vehicle

making electricity in as many different ways as environmentally and economical possible can then be the main objective of transportation finance and research.

The Leaf is a complete waste of money! There are not enough charging stations, the battery life has to come from external sources, which in turn means paying more than you need to for the electricity, which also means power stations need more fuel. Are electric cars the future? I don't think so!

Top Gear won an Emmy in 2005. Not bad for some unknowns

Unknowns? UNKNOWNS? The show has been going for many years and is one of the best shows on British television! Just because you haven't seen it enough, doesn't make it full of ''unknowns''!

I don't see anything wrong with his report. True, he knowingly started up the car at only 40% power but that's what WILL happen to some users, and probably all, at some point or another, and they'll end up in the same situation that this man was in as a result.

@smith

It won't happen to them. They'll choose to do it. because they're idiots. Just like Clarkson, funnily enough....

when i saw his picture here, I was really amazed, he looks exactly as my ideal of a man, so charming!

Just had a look at BreitbartV's link - hahahahahaha

“Anyone who finds this funny is a puerile idiot who rides a bicycle,” Clarkson was heard fuming.

lol Priceless.

herefornow said-- No objectivity or even coparisons to other vehicles/manufacturers is allowed.

Perhaps if other coparisons to other vehicles,manufacturers is made, it might make the other vehicles look bad against the Jpanese ones.

>He ended the show with the comment that electric cars “are not the future.”

Incidentally, this is completely and utterly incorrect. At the end of this segment they said that the future to petrol cars was hydrogen cars which Honda already have. Perhaps this is the main reason that Nissan were unhappy? But it certainly doesn't excuse the author from lazy journalism.

He finished the program paying tribute to a group of ex servicemen who were injured in the line of duty and are trying to take part in the Dhakar rally.

First the abomb survivor jopkes and now this??? The BBC should grow up and stop Japan bashing!

Try watching the program before making opinions.

Life with an electric car is very much like making love to a beautiful woman. You have to invest heavily to make her yours. Ensure she is safely tucked up in bed at night. Take your time charging her slowly or you won't get the best from her. And then, don't push too hard too fast or the spark will fade very quickly indeed.

Choose wisely or you may get left in the lurch.

Well we should all thank this guy for his amazing journalism. I often ask myself, "Hey, if I have an electric car and don't bother charging it, then ignore the car's warnings that I'm going out of range, then drive it in circles, will the battery die?"

Finally we have our answer.

He could have made the same point without staging an incident that only an idiot would find himself in. You can show the charging stations and point out areas where you might run into trouble. You can talk about charging times. You don't have to destroy the reputation of a specific car all because you're against electric cars in general. Nissan has the right to be angry.

First the abomb survivor jopkes and now this??? The BBC should grow up and stop Japan bashing!

They aren't "Japan bashing".

The only people who need to grow up, on both counts you mention, is the Japanese side.

Well we should all thank this guy for his amazing journalism.

He's not a journalist.

They aren't "Japan bashing".

Yes, they are. You need to grow up and see things for what they are IMO

Hippo, I can only assume that you have your tongue firmly in your cheek. He made a simple point about the lack of charging infrastructure in the UK, to call that Japan bashing is ludicrous and rather pathetic.

You guys should read the commnets that are allowed to stay up on BBC's website... Japan bashing.... Ther's no other word for it

Okay, as you didn't see the program I'll try and explain as best as I can as to why this was not Japan bashing.

They did a piece on electric vehicles. One of the cars featured was a Peugeot (French) the other car was a Nissan (Japanese). During the feature they commented how quiet both cars were and how in one of them (the Nissan) they had to design new windscreen wipers as the previous ones were too noisy. They also had to redesign the front wing because the air passing over was also too noisy. They commented that it had a top speed of 90mph compared to the slower Peugeot. They also mentioned it had more power and showed it overtaking the Peugeot. It was also cheaper than the Peugeot.

They did the feature driving around Lincolnshire. Both cars had low battery and the Nissan was the first to run out. This was presumably due to the fact that when Nissan gave the car to the BBC it had less power in the battery than the Peugeot.

They came to a conclusion that electric cars aren't a viable solution to the energy problems because there aren't sufficient power points to ensure they could be recharged.

One presenter asked 'when petrol becomes too expensive to run cars what can we do' Another presenter answered 'we already have the solution. Honda have the answer. Hydrogen cars.'

Honda is a Japanese company. Three weeks ago they reviewed the Nissan GT and were full of compliments.

In this episode they highlighted that electric cars were not the way of the future.

At no point could anybody infer that Top Gear or the BBC were acting inappropriately to Japan or the Japanese.

he deliberately runs out of power in Japanese automaker Nissan’s Leaf electric car

shows perfectly well who needs to grow up.

The Japanese should respond with a programme where they show BA exploding in mid air.... "It happens"

Bloody childish and irresponsible! Deliberately attacking Nissan's image in the UK. No wonder they're furious!!

I agree that this is an opportunity for Nissan to give their rebuttal.

If there is a recharging problem,ie a lack of charging points, then they can put more energy into improving this.

If there is a misconception, then they can tell us why the Leaf is better than Jeremy suggested. I suspect the Leaf is much cleverer than portrayed. Travelling downhill it can recharge and claw back extra battery power.Perhaps some of the good bits got edited out. Perhaps the BBC chose Lincoln because the land is flat for many miles around... ?

Jeremy Clarkson is a Tory voter. Enough said. He's assume himself wich he's stupid enough to use the BMW's iDrive. He's a conservative lad who doesn't like anything new or modern.

I knew it...This guy, Clarkson, he is working for the Desepticons, to prevent the evolution of Earth's vehicles into Autobots.

Mr Clarkson has very outdated racist and sexist views that i think he over plays to get attention for himself and the programme and no doubt his Sun newspaper column.

He once claimed women shouldn't be behind the wheel of a car for safety reasons which is ridiculous as they can cope quite well driving an automatic.

Just talking for Japan, who would buy electric cars with all the power saving talk going on?

"Top Gear" is a show that provides entertainment to auto enthusiasts. That's it. It is not a government white paper.

@Skeptical

1) Nissan is NOT Japan 2) You obviously haven't watched the show. They compliment Nissan cars a lot. INCLUDING the leaf. 3) They didn't just drive around in circles on the show. They drove around a city LOOKING for a place to recharge as the battery warning came on when there was no official points in range. 4) It's people like yourself that get ripped in the UK. Mainly due to the fact you can't look at anything objectively and start calling foul when nothing insulting has been made towards you. Just like the show where their insult was towards the large charge times (13hours), the low range (100miles, although the show PROVED it wouldn't go 100 miles on the charge due to UK speed limits), and the severe lack of places to charge it. Look at it this way. My nearest recharge point is 120miles. The car can do 100 miles. Not difficult math but I'm pretty sure I'd run out of fuel before I get there.

After just watching the episode in question its no wonder Nissan is furious, as the show showed what a expensive piece of crap the car is. Firstly why sell a car that doesnt have the infrastructure to support it. Also what is Nissan so bent out of shape over, the fact it was pointed out that the car has no power, or was it if you fast charge the car then you will (by Nissans admission) burn the batteries out in 3 years, or was it that it would cost 7000 pound to replace the battery, or was it that under best case the battery would last between 5 to 10 years. Maybe they got upset because it was shown the car would take 13 hours to recharge and only get around 100km from that charge.

I guess if you make a crappy car and it gets exposed yeah complain all you like. Funny though the other car that they compared the Nissan against got a worse commentary but is that manufacturer complaining. Nope. Just the Japanese company whining about the bad press.

Btw, what the best way to watch to gear in Japan? (except bit torrent)

The best way to watch UK TV is to get yourself a free VPN with a UK IP address. Then using that go to the bbc iplayer site and enjoy!

If you don't want to set that up try using sites like sidereel.com that stream some TV shows.

Then you can see the episode in question. Think it's episode 5 or 6 in this series

Recently (in May) I watched a British car magazine in TV, while in Germany for a week. There was a test of the racing car version of the Nissan Leaf. At a speed of 150 km/h the race will be quite short, after approximately 20 Minutes the battery charge is used up. But Nissan was not complaining - just the opposite. They were happy that batteries and engine did not overheat, and they think of establishing a new racing class with only Nissan Leafs, where the race lasts only 20 Minutes.

Download and install Tor and Mgeni and set your location to the UK and get iplayer

OrangeW3dge

Aside from being your favorourite, he is relatively unknown in my end of the pool.

LOL, Clarkson and his show are so unknown in the US that they've even franchised it and created Top Gear USA last year. And the 'Car Guys' from Car Talk? That's just a radio show that's not even in the same league as Top Gear. You're telling me you tune into NPR to hear them? Sounds like a lot of fun...

The flaw in the electric car revolution was revealed in our area last Winter. D.C. was brought to a veritable standstill during the evening rush hour by a sudden snow and ice storm. Commuters were left stuck on the highways for up to six hours in what essentially became long ribbons of parking lots. You couldn't turn your car off to save electricity because you needed the heater. You had NO hope of making it to a charging station even if one was just off the next exit.

@Skeptical Hippo

Clarkson recently praised a Nissan supercar to the skies on Top Gear, explaining how it completely blew away the (British) Jaguar that it was up against. So your cry of "Japan Bashing" is ludicrous. He's electric car bashing.

And what's more, Top Gear's James May states that the Honda Clarity is the most important car for 100 years. Such Japan-bashers at the BBC!!!!

Cause controversy= achieve ratings.. Top Gear has been known for that, the show itself is funny at times, though Clarkson's humor has become a little dry lately..

Mechanical engineers should be the ones on those car review shows that can give proper technical reviews and advice

Nissan's indignation is simply their way to get some more free publicity and push the issue of the government installing rechargers at car parks. Top Gear gets some noteriety as well. I'll bet that they were both in on it together.

Many Japanese viewers of Top Gear. They love the refreshing humor/humour of it.

What are they doing tracking their customers and releasing that info? Sure Top Gear's not being fair, but they're entertainment not news. The point still stands that not everybody will keep their car fully charged at all times every time they leave the door. So what.

It sounds like even by Nissan's admission, it's a crap car that will burn out its batteries either way. I've driven Japanese cars my entire life. Don't see how racism even enters into it. If anything Top Gear is extremely biased in favor of Japanese cars, electric ones being the only exception.

When a company makes crap cars, there is simply no defending it. But go ahead and play the race card.

Whether it's worth buying really depends on the types of journey you intend to make. It's fine for driving around town and short commutes, but you may still have to rent an internal-combustion vehicle for longer journeys.

If electric cars become more affordable and therefor more popular the infastructure will be suffice, until then its hardly worth the trouble and expense installing. recharging facilities. Meanwhile i will carry on driving my 99, Nissan March Japanese import

Top Gear gets some noteriety as well. I'll bet that they were both in on it together.

Top Gear is not watched in Japan and in Britain the "controversy" has gone completely unnoticed by the media and population. No publicity for anyone. Completely differently from when Clarkson called Mexicans, lazy, feckless and flatulent, which caused a lot of fuss, and especially as everyone knows they are not lazy.

The presenters almost got shot in a hick town when doing their road trip to New Orleans by outraged local red-necks - definitely worth watching on youtube.

Top Gear is one of the more popular fast moving humorous and entertaining shows on t.v. at present, RollsRoyce didnt complain when they tipped a vintage model into a swimming pool in one episode,i reckon Jeremy would have got a bit of a shock if he had done the same with the Nissan Leaf

it's seems that Top Gear also upset some more people with Leaf review due to the fact that they parked in a disabled parking spots:-

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/aug/02/top-gear-disabled-parking-row

Some people like to suck the fun from everything

I just read that Nissan will be installing 2 charging points in Lincoln, Nebraska. One dedicated to Jeremy Clarkson and the other for James May. Nice to see the good folks at Nissan have a sense of humor.

OK. out of fairness, I did go watch the segment that is being discussed here and I feel that if Nissan is "fuming" or "seething" or "flaming" or "exploding" over this, then there must be some misunderstanding in the subtleties in the British vernacular because I didn't perceive any offense to the car or it's manufacturer, Nissan. The Jeremy fellow actually commends the Leaf as "extremely well made" and so on. It is the other boob that is distastefully abusive of anything that is battery-driven and we will have to assume that he was trying to be humorous as well. The piece is misleading in it's intent to use the point of view from a "common man" (an aspect, I am sure, appeals to a TV audience) as presented by these three bumbling, perhaps alcoholic, over-the-hill baby-boomers. There was a considerable amount of tongue-in-cheek "humor", but I find that, also, very common in the British culture and it just must be their way of compensating for the lose of their Empire a couple of centuries ago. BUT, all in all, this segment of a boring television show was by no means racist, Japan bashing, or even demeaning to Nissan. So the term "Fuming" is probably a bit out of place. And, that having been said, it has been proven that in the phrase "to prove" there are two O's, but in the phrase"to show proof" there are four.

I'd much rather to the car guys on NPR any day than to this Clarkson fool!

steve@CPFC,

"He once claimed women shouldn't be behind the wheel of a car for safety reasons which is ridiculous as they can cope quite well driving an automatic."

Is obnoxiousness a contractual requirement of the vast majority of your posts?

@ MrDog:

"The Car Guys", who are ABSOLUTELY unknown outside of America.

The guys at "Car Talk" should issue you an official dope-slap, for that misinformation.

And for this:

American English is a dumbed-down form of English.

You get a rolled-up newspaper.

I think that Jeremy Clarkson guy should've just carried an extension cord...

When gasoline powered automobiles were first mass produced, you think every hick town had a gas station? NO! And what did people say, as they rode their horse around? It sounded something like this:

the comment that electric cars “are not the future.”

Just replace electric cars with "automobile".

The same types said man would never fly.

But for simply having so little integrity as to intentionally mislead viewers into believing the car and the charging station system was less reliable than it actually was, by not charging the battery fully etc., the man should be looking for a new job, perhaps as a car wash attendant. Never heard of him, but I just boycotted him anyway. If I wanted lies I would seek out something owned by Rupert Murdoch.

Pork-Chop head is just another media mouth for the oil globalists. Hybrids/Electrics and small efficient cars are the future and the upward rising trend right now. People are buying the Leaf and the Prius is still very popular. More people are walking and riding bikes.

Big tech in refurbing the NiMh Prius batteries and reusing them for other things (bikes, scooters etc). May try my desulfator on them ~ $5-10 each 7Ah.

Don't use gas for the day --> take a "free" lunch break or dinner. The costs really add up and will easily pay the monthly BBC/NHK fee.

At some point in the not too distant future petrol/gasoline will be too expensive for the average person to run a car on. Which rules Hybrids out as a long term alternative.

The British government has said there won't be electric points on every corner which should effectively rule out electricity.

Hydrogen is possibly the future. There are numerous issues that need to be dealt with but it has far greater potential than the others.

NISSAN is ready to mess up with anybody and they have a lots of problems lately and they spend a fortune for the army of lawyers to mute anybody standing in their way.

Just type nissan.com in the URL bar and read the true story and the people opinions.

I wouldn't be surprised if the phone would be ringing in the JT editorial in a few minutes requesting them to remove my post for the link I gave.

haha that is clarkson, if it was a Brittish electrical car he would have said "electric cars are the future" :p

just read the nissan computer case. It turns out Nissan Motors is a real piece of work and would probably argue with anything with anybody. Had they left this alone they would not have to fight the negative publicity they themselves continue to generate.

Maybe they should sue themselves

rather than argue with top gear, better for nissan to pay them to promote its car

People in Britain who are in the market for an electric vehicle will know what the infra for charging is. It may still be lacking in some areas. The way Clarkson went about this presentation where he DID fool the viewers by first depleting the battery I find reprehensible. But indeed that is the man's style.

Oh man a lot of you are not the gear heads that watch the show...it's to show off the performance cars of the world and every now and then they poke fun at "anything" economical and practical...it's the nature of the show.

You can charge an electric car at home BTW or anywhere with a 110v cord or have a 220v quick charge system installed at home...simple.....electric cars will really only work in warm climates. I can just imagine being in a car that uses it's battery to keep me warm in the car getting stuck in a traffic jam for a few hours and it's -40....yikes! It probably would damage the battery (as well as yourself) discharging it in those extreme conditions that we get in some areas of Canada a few weeks of the winter season.

I would love to have a GTR and a Smart Car....for what ever mood I am in ; )

everyone knows that these shows take $$ for positive coverage, the only complaint NIssan has is that Top Gear never gave them the opportunity to sponsor!

@Dennis Bauer You know that isnt true. Anyone who watches top gear will tell you "the only thing Clarkson would say is the future is the DB9".

The Japanese yucked it up when Top Gear was insulting Korean cars, but call it "Japan bashing" when anybody says anything remotely disparaging about something that just so happens to be Japanese.

In Top Gear, everybody gets their turn in the hot seat. American cars get bashed more than any other country in the show, we don't get bent out of shape. In fact, of all the countries, Japan is probably the most praised on Top Gear by far. Japanese viewers must've gotten spoiled by this.