THE UK’s advertising watchdog has banned BMW and MG ads that misleadingly claim their electric cars offer “zero emissions”.
BMW ran a Google ad last August featuring the claim “Zero Emissions Cars – Download Your Brochure Today”, while MG made a “Zero Emissions” claim on a Google ad for its electric cars around the same time. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) challenged both adverts as a misleading representation of the vehicles’ environmental impact.
“Both ads appeared on Google search and claimed their EVs had ‘zero emissions’,” said ASA spokesman Toby King. “While we accepted this was true when driving, we determined this was misleading because they still produced emissions when manufactured or, depending on electrical source, when charging. We’ve therefore banned these ads and told BMW and MG to ensure they don’t make similar claims without robust evidence in future.”
The two new rulings follow hard on the heels of rulings against Mercedes and Kia for running misleading adverts suggesting EV buyers might reasonably expect to achieve official WLTP maximum range figures from electric cars, in spite of recommendations that batteries be charged to only 80 per cent of capacity.
Major milestone for EV registrations in UK
THE UK has crept over the one million electric cars mark thanks to 20,935 EVs being registered in January, taking the total to 1,001,677.
However, January’s market share of 14.7 per cent for EVs is down on 2023’s whole-year figure of 16.5 per cent. It means the industry is facing a worrying trend among private buyers, who seem to be losing their appetite for electric cars as the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate kicks in.
The Mandate requires 22 per
