VW ID.3 nabs ‘What Car?’ electric car awards

UK automotive magazine What Car? has named its Electric Car of the Year 2021 awards, with Volkswagen’s ID.3 Life Pro Performance model driving away with Best Electric Family Car.

What Car? doesn’t award an overall “Best electric car” award, but instead breaks its awards down into fourteen subcategories ranging from best electric small car, family car, through to electric performance car and hybrid executive car.

Most categories are doubled with an EV and hybrid award, and the full list of winners can be seen here.

But it was the Volkswagen ID.3 Life Pro Performance car that drove away with ‘Best Electric Family Car’ which is arguably most noteworthy, adding yet another win to the small electric hatch’s already overstuffed trophy cabinet.

The VW ID.3 has already won over 10 in the United Kingdom alone, since it first won the ‘Most Wanted’ award in the October 2019 Carwow awards, before going on to win awards from Top Gear, GQ Car Awards, as well as earlier this year at the UK Car of the Year Awards 2021 where it drove away with ‘Best Small Hatch’.

Currently available in the United Kingdom for £29,740 OTR (£32,240 excluding Government Plug-in Vehicle Grant) – which converts to around $A56,000, though as we have already noted recently, we likely won’t be seeing the ID.3 (and its bigger brother, the ID.4) on Australian roads until around 2023 – the ID.3 Life Pro Performance is the cheapest variant of the ID.3, which the company brought down under the £30,000 mark earlier this year.

Offering a 58kWh (net capacity) battery providing a WLTP-certified combined range of up to 425-kilometres from a single charge, the ID.3 Life Pro Performance was praised by What Car? for its battery capacity, charging capability, comfort, practicality, and handling.

“The promise of a car that’s every bit as practical as the big-selling and iconic Volkswagen Golf, yet which is also kind to the planet, presents a humongous order to fill with the potential for huge disappointment,” said Steve Huntingford, Editor of What Car?

“Thankfully, the ID.3 lives up to its promise, and then some.

“The ID.3 offers ride comfort to rival the Golf, and that’s no mean feat, given the extra weight of its battery pack. Plus, thanks to its tight turning circle and decent grip, it handles better than anything else for the price.