The Advertising Standards Authority has banned a Vauxhall advertisement which it ruled misleadingly compared the Ampera's range against pure electric vehicles.

A complaint centred around a line in the regional press advert for the range-extended electric vehicle which stated "compared to other electric cars, the Ampera, with up to 360-mile range..."

The ASA noted the headline stated that the Ampera was an extended-range electric vehicle but considered that, because the electric car market was still relatively new, the average consumer was unlikely to be familiar with the term or understand that it referred to the type of vehicle and was not simply a reference to the distance that it was able to travel.

It also noted the small print explained that the extended range was achieved by a petrol engine generating electricity, but considered that it was not sufficiently prominent to remove the overall impression of the ad that the Ampera was a pure battery electric vehicle and therefore the 360-mile range would be achieved by electricity alone.

"Because that was not the case, we concluded that the claim "Compared to other electric cars the Ampera, with up to 360-mile range" was ambiguous and gave a misleading impression of the car's capabilities," said the ASA.