The electric sports carmaker Tesla Motors will lose its claim for malicious falsehood against Top Gear unless the company can show it probably suffered financial damage from an episode featuring its flagship Roadster model running out of battery.
Ruling at the high court in London on Friday, Mr Justice Tugendhat said he would strike out the claim unless Tesla could show what probable damage it has suffered from Top Gear, which is BBC2's most popular programme, regularly attracting audiences of more than 6 million. Tesla's separate libel claim against the BBC was struck out last week.
Tesla, one of the world's leading electric carmakers, complained that it has seen a "continuing impact" from the 2008 Top Gear episode in which presenter Jeremy Clarkson said the Roadster would run out of battery after 55 miles on the programme's track – far short of the 200 miles that Tesla claimed it could achieve.
The US company also claimed that the Top Gear presenters had characterised a blown fuse as a brake failure and had falsely suggested that the model became immobile as a result of overheating.
Friday's ruling means that Tesla has so far been unable to show what probable loss it has suffered from the programme. Tesla will now submit an amended complaint.
Tugendhat said in his written judgment: "I shall strike out the claim in this action unless the plea of damage is amended by agreement between the parties, or with the permission of the court."
Tesla's claim only applied to repeats of the Top Gear episode seen by approximately 1.7 million viewers in England and Wales after March 2010, because of strict time-period rules governing claims for malicious falsehood.
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