Toyota Hyundai electric-car ads banned in the UK over misleading charging claims
Toyota and Hyundai have been forced to pull ad campaigns for their electric vehicles in the UK, after the region’s advertising watchdog ruled the manufacturers had promoted misleading claims about charging times.
The UK’s advertising watchdog has found electric-car promotional campaigns by Toyota and Hyundai included misleading fast-charging claims, forcing the car-makers to withdraw the ads across the country.
First reported by The Guardian, the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled Toyota and Hyundai had exaggerated the charging capabilities of their electric cars on their respective websites earlier this year.
In January, Toyota claimed on its UK website the BZ4X electric car could be charged to 80 per cent in approximately 30 minutes when using a 150kW rapid-charger – while also saying drivers can “easily find rapid-charging points in a number of public locations”.
In March, Hyundai published ads for the Ioniq 5 featured on its website, billboards and YouTube in March 2022 which claimed the electric SUV could be charged from 10 per cent to 80 per cent in just 18 minutes when using a 350kW ultra-rapid charger.
MORE: How long does it take to charge an electric car?
The ASA reportedly received “multiple complaints” from consumers, who argued the charging times advertised by the car-makers were achieved under laboratory testing conditions and were not reflective of real-world expectations.
Complainants also raised concerns regarding the car-makers’ claims that rapid and ultra-rapid charging stations are readily available in the UK.
A Toyota UK representative told The Guardian there were 419 chargers across 134 locations capable of 150kW rapid-charging in the UK, though Hyundai’s website showed just 37 rapid chargers (up to 350kW) in Great Britain.
Despite the car-makers denying their ads were misleading – arguing electric-car drivers are unlikely to need rapid and ultra-rapid chargers on short journeys – the ASA said “the average consumer was likely to form the impression that it was relatively straightforward to access 150kW/350kW chargers throughout the UK in public places”.
“We concluded that because the ads omitted material information about the factors that could significantly affect the advertised charging time and the limitations in relation to availability… the claims had not been substantiated and were misleading,” the ASA said in its assessment of Toyota and Hyundai’s campaigns.
“The ad must not appear again in the form complained of. We told Toyota/Hyundai to ensure their ads did not mislead (consumers) about battery charging times.”
The advertising watchdog also declared Toyota’s disclaimer – which said “rapid charging power ratings can vary by location” – was “insufficient” to inform consumers of the relatively limited network of 150kW chargers in the UK.
As previously reported, electric-car charging capabilities in Australia can vary between stations, with Chargefox and Evie standing out as the only two companies which claim to offer ultra-fast chargers capable of up to 350kW.
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