Electric vehicle advocates want clearer terms for car buyers, urging the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to simplify how manufacturers describe their electrified vehicles.
Electric Vehicles UK is leading efforts to eliminate confusing acronyms like PHEV, HEV, FCEV, and MHEV from car advertising.
“The fact that some carmakers can describe vehicle power trains with such confusing, and sometimes inaccurate names, needs to be investigated,” said Electric Vehicles UK CEO Dan Caesar.
Caesar says this confusion affects consumers’ ability to make informed purchasing decisions. The group wants the ASA to examine terms like “self-charging hybrids” and asks manufacturers to revise their naming practices.
Electrifying.com founder Ginny Buckley supports the initiative. “The widespread myth that a ‘hybrid’ is a self-charging electric car highlights the urgent need for clarity. It’s time for carmakers and the advertising industry to hit the brakes on jargon and misinformation, replacing it with simple, honest language to make car buying more straightforward.”
Research from Transport & Environment shows some hybrids produce “much higher emissions than advertised” and calls them “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” The group recommends governments focus incentives on fully electric vehicles instead of hybrids.
This isn’t the first challenge to hybrid terminology. Norway’s advertising regulator banned Toyota’s “self-charging hybrid” campaign in 2020, stating it misleadingly suggested free power generation while requiring gasoline.
The ASA studied public understanding of environmental terms — including electric and hybrid vehicle terminology — in 2022.
“We published new advice to electric vehicle advertisers last year,” an ASA spokeswoman said. “We told them it was important to be clear about the terminology and technology they used in their ads so this wasn’t misleading.”
The ASA banned a Nissan ad in 2023 for unclear “e-Power” references. While the authority can’t mandate specific terminology, it encourages consumers to report concerning electric vehicle advertisements.
