Geneva - For the third time ever, a fully electric car has won the European Car of the Year competition. With 279 points to its name, the Kia EV6 has won the overall prize.
This also happens to be the first time that the full podium has been battery powered, with the Renault Megane E-Tech following in second place, with 265 points, and the Hyundai Ioniq 5 managing 261 points.
In fact within the top seven only one of the contenders was not fully electric, this being the Peugeot 308 in fourth place with 191 points. It was followed by the Skoda Enyaq iV (185), Ford Mustang Mach-E (150) and Cupra Born (144).
One thing that makes this competition relatively unique is that it does not have any categories - although the runners up are announced, there is only one winner.
“We’re still independent from the motoring industry and we still have no category”, said the president of the COTY jury Frank Janssen. “We have only one winner at the end, we don’t provide a trophy for each of the participants, so that’s the reason why this prize is so recognized.”
The Kia EV6 is the Korean company’s first dedicated electric car to be built around the new E-GMP high-tech architecture for EVs. The EV6 claims to have class-leading cabin space as well as a driving range of up to 528km between charges, while 800V fast-charging capabilities allow it to be charged from 10% to 80% in just 18 mintues.
“The EV6 is truly a landmark development that’s been designed from the outset to make electric mobility fun, convenient and accessible by combining a highly impressive real-world driving range, ultra-fast charging capabilities, a spacious high-tech interior and a truly rewarding driving experience,” said Kia Europe’s president Jason Jeong.
“The EV6 is an exciting sign of what’s still to come in our evolving electrified line-up.”
But who judges the competition? The European Car of the Year jury consists of 59 members, representing 22 European countries. The objective is to find the best new car on sale, among those that were launched in the preceding year.