Top Gear review slated the new Nissan Leaf

We all know JC's views of EV's from the previous threads about the dodgy Top Gear review of the Tesla Roadster. Well he has now done a similar review of the Nissan Leaf, though much more carefully worded to avoid possible legal repercussions.

Nissan hits back at Top Gear - Telegraph

One has to wonder why Nissan lent him the car knowing his biased views against EV's.

There's no video to post but you will be shocked at his comments at the end of the review where he pretty much said that EV's are a backwater in the same way laserdiscs and betamax video were. You'd be wasting your time buying EVs, they don't last more than 5 years leaving you with an £8k bill for new batteries, cost £8 to fill with electricity for 100 miles compared to a VW Golf costing £13 in diesel. (He did say using the most expensive electricity tariff available - though didn't say using the cheapest would cost £1.50!). Oh and to finish he said you should all wait until Hydrogen arrives as you can use that just like petrol.

Now if he isn't in the pay of the oil/petrol companies then I'll eat my hat.


p.s. I have managed to find a copy of the Top Gear clip but it stops just before his comments in the studio (oh and don't use the website quoted on the clip - it's dodgy);

 

And the fud spewed by them is being repeated already. Just had a customer where we talked about the Prius and then the conversation moved to EV's and the Top Gear article the other night. He was saying that EV's were a waste of time as it would cost £8 to go 100 miles, which is not much cheaper than diesel. When I tried to correct him that most overnight electricity tariffs would equate to £1.20 for a charge he was adamant that Top Gear said £8 so it must be true.

Top Gear is a fun show to be taken with a pinch of salt, but the 'facts' they quote are taken seriously by many. More fool Nissan for lending them their car. It appears Leaf owners will now start to get the fud we Prius owners are now used to.

 

The only copy I could find was a dodgy copy.

As I said before, the article/review was ok - it was the comments afterwards that were 110% fud. Quoting £8 to fill up a Leaf means a charge of 50p kw/h or so, when most nighttime rates are about 5p kw/h and daytime is around 15p kw/h. Where they found a rate as high as they quoted is somewhat unbelieveable, though I guess it must exist somewhere in the UK for them to legally be able to say it.

JC has an agender and people believe him. Personally I think he'll be the one looking a fool when BMW, Rolls Royce, Ford, GM/Vauxhall, Renault, Toyota etc all have electric cars in the pipeline. Either successful companies have got it all wrong or JC is the wet kipper.

 

Well I'm guessing Nissan know more about their car than 3 blokes from an 'entertainment show'.

The car will have a warranty including one on the battery so I don't see what the problem is.

You might want to see what Robert Llewellyen (UK TV presenter who is pro EV) says about a newspaper article which ran a story about the recent anti EV comments from Top Gear - yes Top Gear are now so blatant that it is being discussed in serious newspapers over here;

I feel very encouraged to read this, however there is, I'm sad to report, more to the ultra right wing, climate denying libertarianism so proudly espoused by the middle aged men in jeans.The TV show is indeed funded and profited from by the BBC, Top Gear live, a series of massive events staged around the world is proudly and very publicly sponsored by Shell. I'm not saying that's wrong, bad, illegal, corrupt, nothing of the sort. Top Gear is a show about cars that burn copious amounts of fossil fuel, who else is going to sponsor them, Ecotricity? But it's just possible that the massive income the Top Gear company gets from such a sponsorship deal could just influence how they portray machines that don't burn fossils.The party line offered by Top Gear is now 'electric cars are great, they are the future, but not powered by batteries, hydrogen, they mutter, is the future. Quick question, which multi national, multi billion dollar profit making corporation is most committed to developing hydrogen as a fuel for private cars? Quick answer, Shell.I rest my wet liberal case.

Top Gear's electric car shows pour petrol over the BBC's standards | George Monbiot | Environment | guardian.co.uk the link to which Mr Llewellyn refers