It is taped, but only on the Wednesday before airing (Sunday). There have been rare occasions where the Star in the Car segment was taped earlier, but only because the celebrity wouldn't have been available on taping day. I think that's only happened a couple of times in the past 21 series of Top Gear.
They don't totally avoid electric cars, but they certainly aren't fans of them either. They have done segments on the Honda Clarity (fuel cell car), the GM HiWire (prototype fuel cell car), did a cross country test of three electric cars (Ford Focus, Nissan Leaf and a Mitsubishi somethingorother) and even made their own home made electric car, later modified into a series hybrid. Except for the Clarity and the HiWire (both reviewed by James May), they made fun of them.
I don't know if they will ever test a Model S. They just started their 21st series (usually 2 series of about 8 shows each per year) so we'll have to see if they get their hands on one and how they treat it. I just hope that they don't stress the 18 hours to charge it (using household current). At the very least, they should use whatever they have over there that compares to our 220-240V home plugs. Otherwise it's like saying that ICE cars take forever to refuel....if you run the gas in via a 1/4 inch diameter plastic tube. I would suggest they give it to James May (the intellectual one) for a week to use as a normal car, and make sure he has a dryer plug he can charge it with at his home.
