Top Gear - Unplugging Electric Cars

The boys talk about unplugging electric cars and locking other people's bikes.
From: S18E02
Courtesy of the BBC!

[@JCDavis314]

Hammond was the kid who was always caught.

[@heneedsomemilk2877]

And then snitched on the others

[@fourscarlet7581]

@@heneedsomemilk2877 I see him as the guy who would snitch on only one person in the group.

[@nightstorm16]

nah, he just doesn't like being in trouble. The other two love it

[@garygritter5701]

Ye

[@RatelHBadger]

Short legs, always the slowest to get away

[@MichaelD8393]

James May: "Don't unplug people's electric cars because when they see the range just says: *2,* it's not funny" *proceeds to piss himself* 😂

[@board7374]

First reply pog

[@lan8401]

"Were not saying you should do that, we just say you CAN do that"

[@MichaelD8393]

@@lan8401 😆💦👖

[@MichaelD8393]

@@dr6124 Which one?

[@profmartin1967]

Charging cable locks in so you can’t unplug it.

[@DanCojocaru2000]

"because when they come back they find out their range just says 2"

[@liamweaver2944]

"It's not fun-HAHAHAHAH"

[@KiwiSpartan01]

Kills me every time

[@maxwellpants5158]

Where not saying you should do that we’re saying you can do that pfpfpfpfpfpfpf

[@liamweaver2944]

"No, you shouldn't"

[@oddities-whatnot]

Yes, I heard him say that. Whats wrong with people on here these days ? Yeah, lets pretend nobody heard anything so I have to post it on here just in case. FFS every man and his wife keeps doing this, its boring.

[@timorouw5555]

The funniest thing is that James May owns a Tesla

[@VramanNoodles]

Oh no. Ohhhh no!

[@redmr2na]

One day he'll be in a hurry to go somewhere, and he'll run out to his car and find his range says 2. The whole of Hammersmith will hear His" OH COCK!"

[@VramanNoodles]

@@redmr2na I think that's the most used and most popular quote of James May Edit: And best

[@timorouw5555]

@@redmr2na hahaha, that will be a sight to see

[@decodolly1535]

It's Hammersmith, isn't it? I'm going unplugging....... 😁

[@M8K2E9]

We're not saying you should do that, we're saying you can do that.

[@hiddenbutdeadly]

One of my all-time favorite Clarkson lines

[@joshualaw375]

James: * pfffvffvffv *

[@maxharter5716]

"Now..."

[@anthonyparker7839]

one of the all time Clarkson lines

[@kancanacitrangi]

And you will do that

[@just_matt214]

*"YOU'RE JUST A YOBBO!"*

[@oddities-whatnot]

Yes, we heard that, you dont need to write it down.

[@prnjrr1783]

No he absolutely does

[@youtubepleb]

Yes, I am.

[@Sergeantmajormario]

@@oddities-whatnot you're new to the Internet, aren't you?

[@manaspradhan8041]

@@Sergeantmajormario just because KZbin comments are a shithole doesn't mean everyone is 'new to the internet'

[@rngrolls]

One of the rare times James and Jeremy are in harmony.

[@quetzal8100]

"Throw a brick through their window or set fire to their shop." Americans: Both, both is good.

[@dright928]

I'm reminded of the Walkie-Talkie in London that supposedly set someone's shop on fire with it's power to reflect the sun into a beam capable of melting cars and creating fires.

[@AleK0451]

@@dright928 every time i think i'm stupid i think of the walkie talkie and i remember i'm not THAT stupid

[@aidenmclaughlin1076]

@@dright928 Holy shit I want a Walkie Talkie like that

[@AzguardMike]

it was a mostly peaceful brick throwing

[@pistachiomustachio1465]

Lmao 😂😂😭

[@Chanannagins]

the seriousness in James' voice when he says "they've got a new car it's called the Influenza" kills me every time

[@dlux6700]

Ikr he was so smooth with it lmao

[@amandahugankiss4110]

Doesn't bother to even really fix it either. Amazing.

[@stanleybuchan4610]

How many times do you have to watch it?

[@plugoneone]

1:46 the way jeremy gets excited never gets old

[@mattle841]

It's like they both turned into children for a minute an a half

[@tastycarbonara]

That "D O N K" got me

[@layonyatsu7203]

"52 year old children?" underrated line in this video 😂

[@JohnDoweMah]

I find it borderline criminal that they decided to change cameras to not show james the whole time he laughed at 1:46. Yes Clarkson eagerly nodding is funny but I’d love to see how James looked while laughing.

[@PouLS]

Imo t's even more of a crime than unplugging electric cars, locking bikes, throwing bricks through windows and setting shops on fire combined.

[@mr.nerd3.142]

What if you combined the two actions and locked peoples electric cars to the charger while they’re charging?

[@secretbaguette]

Ery noic

[@tylerkulchinsky2167]

Unplug the car and use a bike chain to chain the car to the charger

[@JonathanRiverafrickinnice555]

@@tylerkulchinsky2167 HAHAHA

[@atif1538]

@@tylerkulchinsky2167 use a bike chain to chain a bike to an electric car

[@awddfg]

@@tylerkulchinsky2167 Steal the fucking battery

[@birdbrain4445]

As amazing as this bit is, the first few seconds are always what I remember most. James just flatly busting out 'it's called the influenza' out of nowhere gets me every time lol.

[@JETZcorp]

I think of that line every time there's a new car with a silly smug name.

[@MadnessIncVP]

*” Y O U ‘ R E J U S T A Y O B B O ! “* 😂 1:40 - 1:55 😂

[@Troy_K]

And thus, Elon Musk was inspired to have Tesla chargers lock in the ports.

[@johnnyxrcfc]

All electric cars lock in their port as far as im aware

[@Troy_K]

@@johnnyxrcfc I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure a lot of them don't, there are certain 3D printed components you can buy/make to lock different plugs into different ports. Could be wrong though. Edit: I am 🥴

[@odinvik7821]

@@Troy_K my mom has one of the shittest cheap electric cars on the market, and even that locks in the charger

[@Troy_K]

@@odinvik7821 Okay, maybe I'm wrong then.

[@matthewboyd8689]

Yet another to buy a Tesla.

[@mfw9902]

0:59 america: "hey! good idea!"

[@Awfulfeature]

Blame those “peaceful protesting” cucks

[@dansaunders1655]

@@Awfulfeature someone's window got a brick through it

[@Theredtail95]

@@Awfulfeature The cops incited the riots.

[@JoHn-gi1lb]

@@Theredtail95 Ah yes, cops will be much friendlier now after "peaceful rioters" smashed up people's businesses for no reason

[@EchosTackyTiki]

"We're not saying you _should_ do that, we're just saying you _can_ do that." This is every piece of advice I've ever given. You know it's funny when you try to say "it's not funny" and break down laughing in the middle of your sentence.

[@chernweimah9124]

0:37 Clarkson did the same thing to James in the Columbia Special! It was just as funny as he said XD

[@bengibbons9720]

Oh yeah XD

[@delanorrosey4730]

Dermot Moynahan did that to Jeremy while he was in the Peel P50 at a stoplight.

[@silverkif780]

Never have I seen a full room of grown adults laugh at "2" and it actually being amazing

[@JetFalcon710]

"It's not fun- HAHAHAHAHAH"

[@decodolly1535]

While my brother's bike was at Paddington station someone else locked their bike onto the same stand and also locked my brother's bike. Probably accidental, who knows? However, he had to go buy a hacksaw to cut the lock off. He then replaced it with another lock of the same model & colour, locked onto the bike in the exact same way. We'll never know how long it took the other guy to work out what happened. If he ever did. Nor whether he complained to the lock manufacturer about the keys not working the lock.

[@LiftFan]

Those locks usually have the same key anyway, he probably could have bought a new lock just for the key instead of sawing it off!

[@decodolly1535]

@@LiftFan I like to tell my brother that he's thick but even he's not that bad. He tried the key before sawing it - didn't work in the other lock.

[@salvatore466]

I remember when my friends and I, 15 years old or so, moved a fiat 500 (old model) from its parking lot to the middle of the road at night. The next week there was this notice on the condo's board saying "we kindly remind everybody to put handbrake on their cars when parking" Truly beautiful moment from childhood

[@rogerbarton497]

At college one of our friends had a Fiat 500 Autobianchi van which was parked nicely in the Students' Union car park. We manhandled it from the parking bay to between two concrete pillars, with about an inch clearance front and rear.

[@dtacto]

Top Gear in 2012: You can just unplug electric cars Auto Engineers: ...or can you? Moral: Top Gear solved yet another world crisis by prompting the invention of locking plugs

[@01322521959]

Or were just showing how ignorant they are.

[@jojodroid31]

Or the engineers maybe thought about plugs about 5min and realized that the car could be unplugged and the cable stolen and thus made the cables lock.

[@whattheschmidt]

@@jojodroid31 Or it was done as a safety issue due to 250kW of power needing to be stopped before pulling the plug.

[@MrOil-qy3vv]

Doesn't change the fact that you can buy a shit ton of bike locks walk up to a store with handles and just go, you're closed, you're closed, and you're closed

[@vandelayofficial492]

damn.

[@gdcatalyst7812]

"You're just a Yobbo!!!" I'm crying😂😂

[@demonknuckles7]

0:54 Lady at the back has absolutely done it before She knows what's up

[@rhyanbennett2629]

Hammond: “I SHOULD THROW THIS BRICK AT THEIR WINDOW AND SET FIRE TO THEIR SHOP” I’m on the floor XD

[@killerdinamo08]

Me and a friend actually thought of that all of our childhood but we couldn't get matches...

[@oddities-whatnot]

I heard him say it, you dont need to write it. WTF.

[@killerdinamo08]

@@oddities-whatnot He wrote it for the deaf.

[@NathanaelTan]

@@killerdinamo08 Someone's going on a ranting spree lmao

[@mohammadalikais3877]

The chemistry between clarkson and may in this scene was astronomical

[@eliwatson7936]

See also: stealing a smartcar. You and a group of mates pick it up and just... move it. Put it somewhere else.

[@isrcinimatic587]

when you see a Peel P50 you can turn it upside down, when the owner comes back he would be so confused lol

[@rogehmarbi]

If you see an Isetta (the BMW) you pick it up, put it inside your pocket, and walk away

[@isrcinimatic587]

@@rogehmarbi I just want to see someone's reaction to these "pranks"

[@jimtaylor294]

*Mwahahahaha*

[@monkeydoespride]

Doesn't that constitute as Grand Theft Auto?

[@SilverSting420]

0:37 I do that same thing, pretty much. I live in a very tourist-y city, and the city rents out these little three-wheeled, two-seater, open-top car/buggy things for the tourists to zip around in and go sightseeing. They're super small, so if you find a parked one, you can pick it up and turn it around.

[@delanorrosey4730]

Renault Twizy? Virgin Islands?

[@dontaejones7419]

Our old bike sheds in highschool was next to one of those corrugated containers. The ones you see on boats but not as big. Eventually, our mate Josh trusted us enough with the combination to his bike lock, so we could unlock it for him whilst we waited and we could all bike home together when he got out of class (as 9/10, we'd get there first). Then one day, I had the bright idea of unlocking his bike and putting it on top of the container. His reaction was the funniest shit for weeks.

[@agentnintendonate1thee2tan89]

How did he react?

[@dontaejones7419]

@@agentnintendonate1thee2tan89 He was fuming, used to sprint to the sheds everyday to get there ahead of us (as everytime he didn't we moved his bike somewhere)

[@agentnintendonate1thee2tan89]

You must've had a good time fooling him.

[@terrencecarbon3997]

The funniest part is how offended Hammond gets when May makes the bicycle lock statement 🤣🤣

[@romulas-cushmanproject3273]

This one clip summarizes what The News is like 1 minute of taking about new cars The rest making fun of said car or company

[@JackFoxtrotEDM]

The way May scrunches his face when he laughs at 1:44

[@bingchilling3914]

"We're not saying you SHOULD do that. We're just saying you CAN do that"

[@JetFalcon710]

I think the funniest part about all of this is Richard's reactions to James and Jeremy, it looks like he's realizing he works with a pair of old lunatics

[@mrfoft184]

Me: (trying to concentrate on my test) My friend: (doing a stupid face) Me: 1:44

[@skateboard4zero]

Walked past an electric car on charge last week and genuinely had to restrain myself 😂

[@WarrinerAnimations]

I had an electric car but switched back to petrol after someone kept cutting the charging cable while it was parked outside my house.

[@ryanharris7891]

buying bike locks and locking up other peoples bikes is really funny tbh

[@woutmelis8828]

I really really want to do it once but I don’t know if you can live my life like normal with that feeling ever again

[@kieranthedude2460]

Try using string and they get 20 m away and then over the bars

[@biggmackthewackslack6654]

Nah actually that's a pretty shitty asshole thing to do Poor people gotta get tonwork somehow, and when you do that it fucks up their day, maybe thier week, maybe it runs their month. You don't know.

[@ryanharris7891]

@@biggmackthewackslack6654 of course reflecting back at it now I completely agree with what you're saying but when I was 13 it was really funny

[@sampackman69]

Me and my friend Daniel locked up my friend Davids bike once and the next day we met up and he said "Someone locked up my bike and I don't know what to do" Daniel and I were just dying

[@Blazedlevelbort]

As of now, in england we are having an issue where people steal those cables instead *thanks james*

[@LostInPhilly89]

Good. EV drivers need to be taken down a peg or two.

[@Blazedlevelbort]

Bloody pious bitches

[@stephanopapadimitriou4789]

James May: It's not funny Also James May: Laughing whilst saying it's not funny

[@the_IcE7MaN]

Jeremy: We're not saying you should do that James: No you shouldn't Jeremy: We're saying you can do that 😆😆😆

[@MichaelD8393]

James: *pisses himself after Jeremy says you **_can_** do that.* 😂😂😂😂

[@markcf83]

@@MichaelD8393 never fails to make me laugh.....

[@MichaelD8393]

@@markcf83 Same 😂

[@smoketinytom]

This combined with the joint in a bus comment makes me think tJames spent all his excitement in his youth! Sounds great to hang with him.

[@DPR178]

This clip is pure top gear. If someone asks what is so great about top gear, show them this clip.

[@michaelpace7236]

Is it bad that me and my friends do the bike lock thing

[@Kasmi_Pragy]

Michael Pace yes

[@chaitanyarao5546]

As long as you do it to your mates and not a stranger, you good.

[@Kasmi_Pragy]

Chaitanya Rao agreed

[@biggmackthewackslack6654]

Yes. Very. Get some help.

[@alansmithee419]

@@chaitanyarao5546 And as long as said mates are good spirited about it. Otherwise it's just bullying.

[@willyd1235]

When I was like 12 years old my big brother got one of those U shaped bike locks and locked it round my neck when I was asleep. It was loose enough not to be a choking hazard but tight enough to be impossible to get off. I had a bike lock around my neck for a whole day.

[@NewfieMan98]

Easily one of my favorite segments of the trio. Abso-bloody-lutely brilliant.

[@asiandrag0n]

This is what I wanna do when I go to England now. Is find James May’s Tesla if he’s out and about, unplug it, and put a recording of it on KZbin.

[@charlesharper2357]

James carefully charges his car, and ensures he doesn't need a recharge to get him home.

[@indominusrex1652]

Or put 2 things on his tesla not parallel to each other

[@smoketinytom]

I feel that after watching this, car manufacturers probably realised that they needed locks on the chargers...

[@dbclass4075]

Not really. Sparks that could form during unplugging with the cable is still powered will be unpleasant. The lock ensures to not allow unplugging before it is safe to do so.

[@NitroDrifter8864]

Ive done this in LA, its the funniest shit ever

[@josaphatfebrianj.f_works2838]

Not as funny as pickle rick

[@monke7929]

@@josaphatfebrianj.f_works2838 true

[@samuelpinder1215]

Why coz everyone drives Teslas?

[@shadows4400]

You're just a YOBBO! 😂

[@sauceboss2210]

This is the best bit of the whole show

[@thomasgatley624]

James mays face at the end LOL

[@saschaz.8243]

James cracking up at the end always gets me 😂😂😂

[@ThePiquedPigeon]

Allegedly, after this clip aired Renault had to launch a press release where they specify that, thanks to the way the plug is locked to the socket, only the car's owner can plug and unplug it

[@ja4309]

The chemistry between the three is just marvelous

[@OfficialMeep]

once I parked my ford fiesta, I came back 5mins later it was facing other way, this was in middle of the night, in little village, where I didint saw a single person

[@Proccito]

"It's really not funny pffff"

[@Kasmi_Pragy]

hey swift i want you to keep making videos in always like watching them (: 👍

[@swift7493]

ok pg

[@Kasmi_Pragy]

@@swift7493 no srly i want to see more of your videos im always happy to watch (:

[@donotatme]

And with that he never uploaded again

[@spicycalamari8891]

Man, I haven't laughed that hard at a video in a LONG time!

[@shampoo1991]

1:20 I love the idea of a viewer seeing this and just losing it over the mystery of 78' finally being solved.

[@tomgibbs4552]

This is one of the greatest Top Gear moments of all time

[@YDNStudios]

by far one of the best clips

[@stevenmark7823]

This is the perfect example of what top gear was this fully explains it

[@risunamashaba2060]

"Oh yes, my bicycle is o...* donk *"

[@homeschoolhd596]

“YOU’RE JUST A YOBO!”

[@beautifulday1665]

Fun fact: James doesn't believe in electricity...

[@sonyviva308]

Saddest thing is that I actually tried doing this on my Mini Countryman E. And.... It wouldn't come unplug. Because it's locked.

[@Theredtail95]

because they saw this clip and designed it so you couldn't unplug it, asshat.

[@sonyviva308]

@@Theredtail95 yea man.

[@wojciechmuras553]

How sad that you couldn't mess someone's day up. Such a shame they weren't late for an important meeting. It would've been so funny, if they couldn't get their children from school on time. I hate people like you.

[@sonyviva308]

@@wojciechmuras553 Indeed it is sad. But it's alright because I did it on my own Mini

[@Theredtail95]

@@wojciechmuras553 Or couldnt be there for a loved one's final moments before they passed away...

[@ThisIsTEC]

1:40 “Or indeed unplugging people’s electric car because when they come back and find the range just says ‘2’, it’s not FUNNY!!!” 1:46 **collapsed lung laughter** - Slow ‘Laughing’ Spaniel, 2011

[@Stormysteamie]

"Let's just throw a brick through their window or set fire to their shop!" Funniest thing I've heard since this show disappeared from Netflix

[@lilalexthe1stofficial]

Its on Amazon Prime

[@GranTruismo4head]

0:56 YOURE JUST A YOBBO!!!! -hamster

[@example2844]

This has to be one of the funniest topics ever discussed on the news 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@yorkshire_tea6875]

My neighbour has a hyundai ioniq that I always unplug in the hope they will buy a real car

[@stealth1474]

My mate just bought an electric car thanks for the idea James 😂

[@skoll6007]

When ever someone asks me “why do you watch top gear?” Or “why do you enjoy Jeremy clarkson?” I always show/send them this clip, it demonstrates the whole show at once

[@achintyaaatreya]

Imagine pulling this trick outside Tesla HQ's parking lot.

[@dbclass4075]

Unless the cable is unpowered, won't work.

[@wandering4104]

The funniest part of this was James taking a second to imagine what he was saying

[@johnhonda93]

my ex lived in an apartment where someone had a plug in hybrid, and every time i walked by it in the parking lot i would unplug it. they eventually found a way to put a lock around it so you couldn't unplug it

[@LostInPhilly89]

Good man!

[@korn6695]

One of the best electric hate moments combined with jezzas hate of bikes

[@SebbusWebbus]

This is one of the funniest clips from the news.

[@LostInPhilly89]

At my old job I had a coworker with a plug-in hybrid and he would always plug it in inside the parking garage. The problem is the garage didn't have any actual EV chargers so he would park in a spot that *didn't even belong to our company*, run an extension cord *down the stairs*, and would trickle charge it off of a regular 120 volt outlet. Essentially he was stealing the electricity and the building owner was footing the bill. I gladly unplugged that car every chance I got. Since it was a hybrid, I knew he wouldn't be stranded if it didn't recharge. The building owner finally confronted him for parking in a reserved spot, creating a tripping hazard with the extension cord, and stealing electricity. It never ceases to amaze me how "above the law" most EV drivers think they are.

[@01iverQueen]

I know a trend where people go trough a district and puncture all SUV tires, must be similar idea behind it 😂

[@Caliburfaith]

Im so happy manufacturers have thought of this ahead of time on most cars. I had a spark EV that if unplugged and the car was still locked it would blare the alarm, my i3 has a locking pin that prevents the handle from being removed and all charge point public chargers will notify you via text your vehicle has been unplugged so you really have to try to be an arse with plug in cars.

[@KiwiSpartan01]

That takes the fun out of it

[@dbclass4075]

@@KiwiSpartan01 For pranksters, yes. Not for owners, though.

[@TraceLight]

Guess we have to try harder ;)

[@dbclass4075]

@@TraceLight Careful, if you do manage the severe the cord and remove some of the insulation, you will be electrocuted. This is critical on fast charging stations. The locking ports are less on tampering, and more on safety concerns on unplugging the cord while still energised.

[@Vitance]

Richard Hammond, once again, being the only decent human on this show lol

[@JetFalcon710]

I just love how outraged/angry he sounded when James was talking! *"YOU'RE JUST A YOBBO!"* *_"Why would you do that?!"_* *"PEOPLE ARE WATCHING!!!"*

[@alhakch.402]

Just watch the cut of funny top gear video compilation of this and don't understand the joke at first, glad I've found this, and now I can laugh my ass off lol

[@jimtaylor294]

Ah classic. The old twig brushing lines of cars to set the alarms off too. I used to always ride different bikes to college myself, and lock the thing up outside a random factory or service garage - alternating them at random - down the street therefrom; so nobody would know which was mine XD.

[@madcat4563]

I keep coming back to this clip; it's bloody hilarious. I don't remember the bit that James and Jeremy said. James, you psycopath, that's hilarious. The one Jeremy did was also very funny. I'm pretty sure you can do it with a classic Mini.

[@pawb1]

One of the students at our school had a bubble car. It was easy to pick it up and put it where it couldn't be driven out.

[@MilkDrinker218]

0:55 “You’re just a Yobbo!”

[@twistedaxles9126]

Ill see you lads at the charging stations

[@zinaitawfik6894]

i love it when he said you just A YOBBO🤣🤣🤣

[@DitzyClouds]

you cant unplug them without the card. renault has locking pins inside the socked

[@kanjozoku3635]

Way too kill the mood. 😒

[@howwwwwyyyyy]

God I miss these 3!

[@RiskyFriskyHandle]

The days when people used the term “yobo”. When the world made sense to me 😅

[@ToastNova]

16 year olds would be the ones unplugging random EVs in parking lots

[@thatdavecarter]

Me and my mates used to always push this one robin reliant around the corner because the handbrake was terrible. Only took two of us to do it. Loads of fun thinking of the confusion the next morning

[@HaydenLau.]

Electric cars nowadays have a lock on the cable. I think, it's entirely because of this episode of Top Gear.

[@dbclass4075]

Not really. It is to prevent unplugging while the cable is still powered. Sparks can be unpleasant.

[@DONK8008]

On Tesla cars which need an adapter for most chargers you can unplug the charger and the adapter is the only bit which remains locked into the car.

[@oldmatejohnno]

The influenza 😂😂😂

[@rebekahl840]

I would lock a bike up witha combination lock then leave a maths equation for the code

[@shriharihudli8596]

That is absolutely brilliant.

[@spaghettigum]

fortunalty the cheap black and blue combination locks can just be opened if u twist and pull it a little andit takes like 15 seconds at most