[eli]

So... He drove around in circles for five whole minutes as part of conspiracy to run down the battery? Five extra minutes of driving has a material impact on the range car? It is not more likely that he was simply lost?

I think you're looking at the wrong thing in the video you linked to. Those bright, well-lit things are gas pumps! The superchargers are the hard-to-see things the driver pulls up to at the end. I'm pretty sure I would have driven past them and I'm absolutely certain I'd have driven more than half a mile if I were intentionally trying to run down the battery.