11:24 am, February 11, 2025
A lobby group is calling on car makers to stop giving electric vehicles confusing names, in what it calls an ‘alphabet soup’ of terms.
Electric Vehicles UK is asking manufacturers and the Advertising Standards Authority to reduce consumer confusion by clearing up the ‘alphabet soup of meaningless acronyms associated with hybrid passenger cars and end the consumer confusion’.
The group is calling for changes to acronyms such as PHEV for a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle or MHEV for a mild hybrid electric vehicle.
It also wants to ban confusing terms such as ‘self-charging hybrids’, which they say make buying electric cars more confusing for consumers.
Chief executive of Electric Vehicles UK Dan Ceasar, who also owns Fully Charged and Everything Electric shows, told the Sunday Times: ‘The fact that some carmakers can describe vehicle power trains with such confusing, and sometimes inaccurate names, needs to be investigated.’
The group has criticised the use of terms that it says at times can be misleading for car buyers looking at an electric car, or can put them off.
He added: ‘Such consumer confusion has a negative impact on consumers making the right choice for their next purchase.
‘We call on the ASA to look into the naming of ‘self-charging hybrids’ and also for the companies that perpetuate this confusion, to revisit its naming conventions.’
Reacting to the comments, Ginny Buckley, founder of Electrifying.com, agreed there was a need for clarity.
She said: ‘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.’
