The Advertising Standards Authority has banned ads by both Toyota and Hyundai after ruling they’ve ‘exaggerated’ certain aspects of their respective electric cars.
Both car makers were found to have mislead customers on the reality of charging times as well as the wider availability of ‘fast-charging’ ports.
Hyundai’s ban concerned three separate ads, which included a Piccadilly Circus billboard, a marketing brochure on its website and a prominent YouTube ad featuring a range of first-team stars from Chelsea Football Club.
The ads claimed that Hyundai’s IONIQ 5 could be charged from 10% to 80% in just 18 minutes using a 350kw charger. The ASA however found that most conditions, including battery age and ambient temperature, would leave this result very difficult to achieve.
“We would expect Hyundai to qualify the charging claim with an explanation of the conditions under which the figures were achieved and that they may not reflect actual consumer experience,” the ASA clarified.
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“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 the availability of 350 kW chargers, the claims that the Hyundai IONIQ 5 could charge from 10 per cent to 80 per cent charge ‘in 18 minutes’ or ‘less than 18 minutes’ using a 350 kW charger had not been substantiated and were misleading.”
Japanese manufacturer Toyota landed itself into similarly hot water with claims that its bZ4X model could be charged to 80% inside half an hour using a 150kw charger.
The ad in question featured prominently across Toyota’s website, with the misleading claims forming a central part of the marketing strategy for the new model.
Detailing its decision, the ASA explained: “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 per cent charge in around 30 minutes with a 150 kW fast-charging system’ had not been substantiated and was misleading.”
