I don't feel like they faked it at all. The entire world is ganging up against Top Gear on this topic but here is a list of conditions that need to be met in order to get the maximum range:

The batteries must be new. The car must be fully charged. The car must be driven between normal and gently. The weather must not be excessively cold. To the extent the batteries aren't new, they should not be rapid-charged.

So fast forward half way through your car loan, the car's 2.5 years old, it's had a 70/30 mix of normal/rapid charges, the driver has a heavy-ish foot, and you've got to leave work at noon to pick your sick kid up from school. Oops. Sure, it's a contrived example, but it's really a concern and really truly is a reason that a car like this doesn't make sense today.

All that aside, I agree with you. Their review of the Leaf was glowing. Good for Nissan to play hardball -- they're just multiplying the publicity value of their review. They'll come out looking even better because of it.