Thinks Musk is “petulant.”
The ever-divisive former TopGear host Jeremy Clarkson has, in an interview, admitted that he rather likes electric cars, is rather impressed by the Tesla Model X, and reminds us that there’s still little love lost between him and the founder of the American electric car firm, Elon Musk.
Speaking to The Daily Beast ahead of the season-two premier of his new automotive program The Grand Tour, Clarkson called Elon Musk “sour grapes” after the latter didn’t quite take to TopGear’s evaluation of the Tesla Roadster, leading Musk to file a libel suit against the show, which he then lost.
“Musk doesn’t like losing. Unfortunately, he did twice. He sued me and lost, he appealed, and lost. You go online and you read that we “made it up” and that we “faked it,” but we didn’t. If you see, if anyone’s going to get sued, you can’t say that sort of thing. I could say all sorts of things about Musk, but I won’t.” - Jeremy Clarkson
Frequently referred to by his colleagues as the “resident dinosaur,” Clarkson has historically been rather hard-hitting against electric cars, citing limitations of both recharging and range to be his biggest bugbears. However, it is nearly 2018, and it seems that Clarkson has rather warmed to electric cars.
“I’ve actually reviewed the new Tesla [Model X] in the new show and in many ways, it’s tremendous. I’ve no axe to grind. He [Musk] is the only one who ever behaved in such a petulant way. Most industry bosses are a lot more grown up.” - Jeremy Clarkson
Perhaps his encounter with the Croatian-built Rimac Concept One, a car featured on the premier episode of The Grand Tour’s second season played a role in changing his mind. Clarkson said he’d never seen anything “move as quickly as that, in number plates.”
Stay tuned to CarShowroom as we bring you more updates as they come.
