Jeremy Clarkson has set the record straight after Dale Vince rekindled his public spat with the former Grand Tour star on social media.
The Ecotricity founder claimed that Mr Clarkson had previously dismissed him in a newspaper column as “the man whose name he can’t be bothered to remember.”
This snub, according to Mr Vince, came after he developed the Nemesis, a modified Lotus Exige that became Britain’s first green supercar.
The vehicle went on to set the UK land speed record for electric cars in September 2012, reaching an average of 151.6 mph along a mile-long course.
However, after spotting a wind turbine at Mr Clarkson’s farm, Diddly Squat, Mr Vince appeared to revel in the 66-year-old’s seeming move towards eco-friendly technology.
On X, Mr Vince penned: “@JeremyClarkson once famously described me, in his column in the Times – as the man whose name he can’t be bothered to remember.
“That was after we had just built Britain’s first electric car (the Nemesis) and he kicked back at the whole idea of electric cars – of course. I took it all in the spirit of old dinosaur\bufferdom it was intended in, right?
“Fast forward a little over ten years, Clarkson has been so infected with the eco virus – we built a windmill on his farm…” (sic)
However, while Mr Vince gloated about the supposed U-turn in thinking and a so-called infection of the “eco virus”, Mr Clarkson promptly jumped in.
“Yes. And I believe it’s been taken down now,” he pointed out.
When a fan asked if Mr Clarkson’s claim was true, he clarified further: “Yeah. For the cereals event. They wanted to show it off. We let them.”
Cereals is the UK’s leading arable event, which was hosted at Diddly Squat for the very first time this year, with agricultural businesses from up and down the country joining to show off their latest wares.
Following Mr Clarkson’s explanation, Mr Vince backtracked: “Yeah it is down now – just there for the Show – but shout if you want it back.”
And he didn’t stop there, calling on Mr Clarkson to collaborate, despite his earlier swipe.
He wrote on X: “@JeremyClarkson Seriously though, you know farming is hard work economically, all farmers need lower energy bills.
“Let’s install one for you for the next series and give it a test drive…” (sic)
Mr Clarkson is yet to respond to Mr Vince’s proposal.
And it didn’t take long for fellow X users to weigh in on the discussion, with several mocking the eco industrialist for calling on Mr Clarkson’s help just hours after deriding him online.
“I’m sure he’ll only be too happy to help you several hours after you’ve called him a dinosaur,” one X user sarcastically responded to Mr Vince’s latest post.
“Never have I seen such a blatant punt of free advertising. Bet you won’t offer this for a ‘test drive’ to an unknown farmer with no tv show who really does need help with energy,” a second mocked. (sic)
While a third simply put to the businessman: “You’ve had a shocker.”
Mr Vince founded Ecotricity in 1995 and received an OBE in 2004 for his contributions to the environment and electricity industry.
He also serves as chairman of Forest Green Rovers, which Fifa has described as “the greenest team in the world.”
Mr Clarkson, meanwhile, has presented Top Gear and The Grand Tour alongside Richard Hammond and James May. He now fronts Clarkson’s Farm on Amazon Prime Video.
