AN MP who was left stranded after her electric car ran out of charge has accused motoring officials of “systematic mis-selling” and “over-inflation” of the product’s range.

MP for Bishop Auckland, Helen Goodman, labelled it a “serious breach” of consumer rights and trade descriptions, citing her experience of owning a Nissan Leaf.

Ms Goodman bought the car in October in the hope it would be better for the environment and was told it had a 125-mile range.

However, Ms Goodman said the car actually only has a range of 85 miles when fully charged which is insufficient to travel across her large constituency.

And it was when driving from Darlington to Barnard Castle last Thursday when Ms Goodman said the car ran out of charge 14 miles into the 17 mile journey – despite the car displaying a range of 22 miles when she set off.

“It was about 6pm and it had on the dial enough battery to do 22 miles but it conked out after 14 miles,” she said.

“The bigger problem is when it is fully charged it never goes above 85 miles but when they sold it to me they said it was 125 miles. I don’t think they should do that. I think it’s a breach of consumer rights.”

Another driver stopped and gave Ms Goodman a lift but she still had to pay £150 for the car to be recovered.

She added: “Not only was I extremely inconvenienced by this, actually it’s dangerous because somebody else can drive into the car, it’s a problem for the police, so this is incredibly important that we get this right.”

Ms Goodman shared her concerns as MPs completed the Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill in the Commons which includes outlining improved access to charging points and when insurers are liable where an accident is caused by an automated vehicle.

A Nissan spokesman said: “Differences between certified and 'real world' driving range will depend on various factors such as driver style, the road layout and weather conditions – the same type of factors that affect fuel consumption in vehicles powered by internal combustion engines.

“The new 2018 Nissan LEAF is the first electric vehicle to transition to Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure which is a more realistic way to measure the range of vehicles. The new LEAF is communicated with both a 235 mile NEDC range and a 168 mile WLTP range.

“Nissan fully supports the adoption of this customer-focused measurement, and will we will clearly explain to our customers the difference between the two measurements.”