The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) in the UK has banned two ad campaigns from Toyota and Hyundai. The ads made misleading claims about charging time and charger availability.
Electric Cars Ads
Toyota’s UK website launched “Making Electric Easy” campaign to promote the bZ4X electric vehicle, which can charge up to 80% in 30 minutes with a 150kW DC fast charger.
Simultaneously, the Japanese car manufacturer asserted that drivers would have no trouble locating rapid-charging stations in numerous public places, particularly in areas where they would be most necessary.
Hyundai advertised the Ioniq 5 with a website, a YouTube video, and a billboard in Piccadilly Square. They said the car can be charged in 18 minutes from a 350 kW charger.
The ASA received complaints about the accuracy of the charging time claims made by both companies. They admitted that these claims were achieved under ideal conditions.
In addition, there were doubts raised regarding the accessibility and convenience of the DC fast chargers in the UK.
Toyota and Hyundai claimed that their statements were not deceptive because most drivers wouldn’t need to charge quickly on short trips. They argued that drivers could use the slower charging points that are more commonly available.
The ASA said about their decision: “We concluded that because the ad omitted material information about the factors that could significantly affect the advertised charging time and the limitations in relation to the availability of 150 kW chargers in Northern Ireland and across the UK, the claim “use rapid public charging to reach 80% charge in around 30 minutes with a 150 kW fast-charging system” had not been substantiated and was misleading.”.
The UK’s ASA has enforced its first ban on claims made in electric car advertisements.
