The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has said Nissan’s (TYO: 7201) new advert has made misleading claims over how fast the new Leaf can recharge.
The Japanese carmaker has said in an advert that the new vehicle could largely replenish its battery capacity within an hour – which the watchdog has said: “had not been substantiated and were likely to mislead”.
Nissan advertised the car as being able to offer a “quick charge on the move”, and claimed drivers could get 80% capacity in between 40-60 minutes from a rapid charger. Elsewhere on the website, Nissan said this depended on charger type, condition, the battery temperature, battery size and the air temperature.
The new rapid chargers are able to charge a battery seven times as fast a typical plug socket in a home.
After complaints that the Leaf could sometimes take longer than an hour to charge, Nissan changed the advert’s wording to say car owners would “get from 20-80% charge in around 60 minutes”.
“The ad did not clearly convey the degree of variability in the time that may be required to deliver a certain amount of charge, we concluded that the claims had not been substantiated and were likely to mislead,” said the ASA.
Nissan said: “We were very disappointed with the ruling made by the ASA, although of course we will respect their decision. We constantly review and react to customer feedback to ensure that we are giving the very best possible service and information.”
Whilst most electric cars can only be charged at home currently, there is an increasing number of public charging points with the growing popularity of electric vehicles.