Lancaster University graduate James May defends Tesla ownership & talks working with Elon Musk

Former Top Gear turned Grand Tour presenter James May spoke to Al Arabiya News presenter Tom Burges Watson this week ahead of the premier of his latest Grand Tour project.

A special titled The Not Very Grand Tour is set to arrive on Prime Video on Friday April 18 2025.

Starring just James and Richard Hammond, the show will serves as a nostalgic look back over the best bits of the show’s eight year history after the final series aired last year.

During the chat however, the car enthusiast was asked what he made of other developments in the motoring world.

In particular the topic of electric vehicles and recent attacks on Teslas and Elon Musk came up.

On the matter, James said: “I have a Tesla and I'm on my second Tesla, in fact, and I can't really remember a time when a car mark was seen as a political weapon or a political enemy. I mean, when I was a child, there were people who wouldn't buy German cars or Japanese cars because of World War Two. But, you know, they were very old people even then. But it hasn't really happened in my time as a car journalist.

“I find it a bit odd, to be honest, because yes, I accept that people have objections to Elon Musk's involvement in American politics, but why is that being taken out on a private individual's car in the UK, or anywhere else in the world, for that matter, but it strikes me as just pure vandalism or terrorism light. I have to say, nobody's dragged me out of mine yet and taken me to the gallows or anything like that and nobody set fire to it or written Nazi on it.”

“I like electric cars, but I didn't buy a Tesla because I admired Elon Musk so much. I really admired the work of his engineers. and I bought it as a car, not as a statement.”

Turning back to television, James was even asked what he would make of Elon Musk as a potential co-presenter.

In response, James said: “Well, I think he would be quite biased, to be honest. So I think you would struggle to sell that. I mean, especially if it was on Top Gear on the BBC, I think that would be regarded as against the charter. So no, I suspect he's quite busy anyway.

“I think commentators on cars in the future have to be people in their, I mean ideally in their 20s. who are looking at the world through the eyes of a new generation and, you know, who are its inheritors. And they must be out there somewhere. There are millions and millions and millions of people in the world, and there are still quite a few people who are interested in cars and the whole transport picture. Somewhere amongst those, you need three or four that can be put together to make a TV show. I don't believe it's that difficult.”

Watch the full interview here: https://youtu.be/OUJjfgd5QUM?si=kHowhf_PIwqwn6er&t=1808