"If you’ve been following the story of what happened when popular British entertainment show Top Gear took a 2011 Nissan Leaf and 2011 Peugeot iOn (nee Mitsubishi i) for a drive to the rural eastern U.K. city of Lincoln, you’ll know that Nissan wasn’t exactly happy with the way its all-electric hatchback was portrayed.
But while Top Gear may have struggled to find somewhere recharge their purposely drained electric cars in a city known for not having any electric car recharging stations, staging those infamous shots at the local university campus, Nissan has stepped in to make sure that other electric car owners won’t face the same problem.
In what we think is a particularly amusing retort to Top Gear’s insistence that the Leaf and other electric cars are let down by the complete lack of charging stations, Nissan is donating an electric car charging station to the city to make sure that no electric car in Lincoln will ever be stranded again.
“The Top Gear program highlighted the fact that Lincoln does not currently provide for electric cars and we’re really pleased that Nissan is now funding a charging point,” said councillor Fay Smith, Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services and Public Protection at the City of Lincoln Council. “We’re committed to reducing the city’s carbon footprint, but know that we can’t do it alone.”
Both the City council and Nissan are inviting Top Gear to try the same trip again, this time without the painful search for a charging station, but we suspect that the new charging station - capable of charging two cars at once - will make Lincoln a less attractive destination for the automotive show.
The PodPoint charging station will be activated before the end of August and be free to use, although it will require electric car owners to obtain a free RFID tag in order to unlock it.
Top Gear Executive Producer Andy Wilman, who was so disparaging of Nissan’s criticisms yesterday at the Top Gear Transmission Blog, was asked for his opinion on Nissan’s donation to the City of Linocln.
“If the charging point had existed when Top Gear was there, James [May] wouldn’t now be walking around with Jeremy’s [Clarkson] name tattooed on his bottom. Still, better late than never.”
Will this be the end of the Top Gear vs electric car saga?
No. But then, without their shenanigans, we wouldn’t be quite as busy. "
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