By Ronan Glon
Friday, Aug 24th, 2012 @ 5:42 am
 
The United Kingdom's Advertising Standards Authority has banned a television ad for the Vauxhall Ampera, a rebadged Chevrolet Volt, on account that it provides misleading information about the plug-in hybrid's range.

Filmed with the Olympic Games in mind, the 40-second long ad compares the Ampera to several athletes and then proudly displays that the car has a range of up to 360 miles. The ad shows the Ampera being unplugged and driven and makes several allusions to electricity but it makes no mention of its gasoline-burning engine.

According to the U.K.'s ad watchdog, poorly-informed consumers might be led to believe that the Ampera can go 360 miles on electricity alone.

"We considered that throughout the ad the emphasis was on the fact that the car was being driven electrically, and that most viewers would not understand that the car was in some circumstances being powered by electricity generated with a petrol engine. Because it did not clearly explain how the vehicle worked in extended range mode, we concluded that the ad was misleading," explained a spokesperson for the Advertising Standards Authority.

General Motors-owned Vauxhall responded to the allegations by saying that the Ampera is a true electric car because its gasoline engine powers the electric motor, not the drive wheels.

A small line of text that appears 12 seconds into the ad vaguely claims that an additional power source sometimes generates the electricity.

  

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