The Grand Tour did Model X Review - Clarkson Liked it - Kind of

[Khanhvngo]

I really wanted them put the model x next to all the other car they tested? track time? the suv in the barrel race?? the SUV in the trailer portion. I don't understand they all these car show almost always never compare any EV directly to ICE car. Match them up head to head and see the result. I can say that the X is more SUV then any of the three they review.

 

[vandacca]

@vandacca...

That said, I think it was a PR miscalculation to sue, not just because they lost and thus were wrong in the eyes of the local law. All that many people know is Tesla sued, was a bad sport and lost.

But that's not even why IMO it was a miscalculation. IMO it was a miscalculation mostly because it was offputing to a motoring enthusiast audience of Top Gear, one that Tesla IMO could and should have courted, rather than court-ed. The lawsuit was counter-productive towards advancing their mission in that audience.

I'm not convinced the episode did any real harm in Top Gear audience. Whether it did some harm within an American investment audience that is not familiar with British television, well, that is possible IMO.

Maybe this is another case where we may need to agree to disagree...

I'm not so sure this lawsuit was that "off-putting to a Top Gear motoring Enthusiasts". As you say, those people know that Top Gear isn't a trust-worthy source and at worse they may look upon Tesla as lacking a sense of humor.

However, those Top-Gear enthusiasts are a small bubble compared to the rest of the world, so it's more important for Tesla to educate the latter at the risk of alienating the former. And at the very least, some of those Top-Gear enthusiasts may have learned just how far Jeremy Clarkson went into deceiving their audience.

You may be one of those Top-Gear enthusiasts, but as I mentioned above, we're a small insignificant minority. Tesla needs to protect their potential customer base.

And thanks to @bhzmark for that incredibly detailed analysis of the court case. I learned a lot from that post.

 

[hill]

Say what you will about him, but the team of three made Top Gear....you just have to watch it now to see that the magic is gone. Pretty sad that he couldn't keep it in check on set and avoid the fiascos that forced the BBC to take action.

Side note - the vid mentions the new roadster. Its impressive no doubt; however, ANY car in this category worth anything is delivering stats on its lap times in Nuremberg. The current stats while impressive, don't really mean much to this category of cars without it...and they have already opened up the reservation option ($250K for the founder series and $50K for the regular reservation). This is either a big oversight, or something that they know will detract from the debut of this car.

I think its essential for them to redeem themselves from the miserable showing done with the MS a couple of years ago; considering this is the only point of reference at the moment.

View attachment 263941

The chinese blew all those record street legals away . . . .

yes, it's production ... yes, it come in street legal.
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[AnxietyRanger]

And thanks to @bhzmark for that incredibly detailed analysis of the court case. I learned a lot from that post.

It was a rather one-sided analysis. But I'll spare you guys the other side. The analysis, so often, falls along the usual bias lines and in this case that's water under the bridge. (Hint: @bhzmark is not quoting the actual court case or it's result, but a subsequent amendment of a specific scope for appeal. Tesla had lost so they tried to appeal on a specific, additional damages claim.)

IMO the more pertinent point here is the question of PR gain, loss and/or necessity. Let's recall Tesla's stage back then. Selling a limited amount of expensive Roadsters. TG audience was very relevant, the big audience was not yet relevant at all. Later that lawsuit lost them all the Model S exposure on the show as well... And Model X later for a long while.

...for what? What could they not have achieved otherwise? Publish the logs and blog that TG faked it if they needed to. Make a funny tweet. Would have been enough and TG would not have excluded them for several years - and would not have resulted in people pretty much just remembering Tesla sued and lost - and was a bad sport.

I still fail to see what the gain really was that would not have been gained by smart PR at the time, without having to sacrifice airtime on TG in the future - as well as whatever legal cost was needed?

 

[AnxietyRanger]

However, Elon is a little too focused on truth and right for your idea to come off properly. I'm not sure that Elon can laugh at himself in this way. That's why he comes off stiff in his late night talk show interviews. So great idea that will never happen.

I'll defer to your character analysis. I am slightly troubled by the implication that he'd be driven by truth/right, though, with his infamous scheduling bravado and stuff like P85D HP and, well, AP2. He is driven, that's for sure, but is probably more complex...

 

[vandacca]

...

IMO the more pertinent point here is the question of PR gain, loss and/or necessity. Let's recall Tesla's stage back then. Selling a limited amount of expensive Roadsters. TG audience was very relevant, the big audience was not yet relevant at all. Later that lawsuit lost them all the Model S exposure on the show as well... And Model X later for a long while.

...for what? What could they not have achieved otherwise? Publish the logs and blog that TG faked it if they needed to. Make a funny tweet. Would have been enough and TG would not have excluded them for several years - and would not have resulted in people pretty much just remembering Tesla sued and lost - and was a bad sport.
...

I would argue that Model-S exposure on Top Gear would have been of limited value, considering Jeremy's disdain for EVs at the time. In reality, the lawsuit likely had less benefits than my side is arguing and less negatives than your side is arguing. Probably close to zero impact. It just gives fans on both sides more to talk about.