Ioniq 5, EV6 and e-Tron bag top “Best Cars of Year” titles

Hyundai Motor Group has taken out the top title of a new car award with not one, but two electric car models, while Audi has taken home a runner-up position for its all-electric e-Tron.

In its inaugural year, the “Best Cars of the Year” award says it has found the formula for ensuring auto industry experts and pundits alike vote without preference to the brands and models they owe allegiance to.

According to auto news veteran Mike Rutherford, who penned a piece for Auto Daily on the awards outcome, the international breadth of the awards with no pre-filtering of models evoked an untethered response from judges.

Auto designers and engineers, car dealer execs, motorsport leaders, car clubs, motor shows and media folk on the judging panels voted for whichever vehicle they liked regardless of price, body type or availability.

And the outcome, he says, was revealing. “With little or no chance to confer, they voted for the Kia EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq 5 as joint World Champions, with the Audi e-tron GT in the runner-up spot. Yup, this does mean that the seasoned judges voted three pure EVs as their best three cars,” Rutherford writes.

The Ioniq 5, as The Driven has reported, has stunned even Hyundai with its popularity. Sold out in Australia within the first few hours it was available to order online, the waiting list is now going to take many months to clear. It has already won several awards including the German Car of the Year award, a Popular Science award, and a UK company car award.

The Kia EV6, which was recently launched at the Australian tennis open in Melbourne, may also be well-received (pricing is expected to be announced imminently). It is built on the same e-GMP platform as the Ioniq 5, as Kia is part of the Hyundai group, and is an elegant alternative to the Hyundai brand’s retro and angular Ioniq 5.

The EV6 has the same ultra-fast-charging 800 volt architecture, as well as vehicle-to-load technology, as well as powerful and quick acceleration from 0-100km/hr in just 3.5 seconds.

Thanks to their dedicated electric drivetrains, both vehicles are extremely spacious inside. While the Ioniq 5 enjoys a generous 3m wheelbase with short overhangs at the front and rear, the Kia EV6 enjoys a sleek design afforded by the freedom of the driveshaft-free platform.

Heung Soo Kim, head of the EV business division at Hyundai Motor Group said he was extremely proud of the Best Car of the Year results.

“It sends a clear message that not only are both Hyundai IONIQ 5 and Kia EV6 world-class electric vehicles, but also that we are on the right track with our electrification strategy,” he said in a statement. “The world can expect more great EV models from both brands in the coming year.”

Rutherford notes the result is also indicative of Hyundai’s position on the world stage: “It’s astonishing that, without prompting or conferring, dozens of judges voted 10 different brands from six nations on three continents into the inaugural Best Cars of the Year Top 10.

“In doing so, they also decided that reborn Kia, massively improved Hyundai, and South Korea are the current best of the best on the global automotive stage,” he wrote.

The Audi e-Tron electric SUV has been on the Australian market for a while now, and will be joined shortly by the e-Tron S crossover starting from $165,600 before on-roads.

In total, five out of the 11 cars selected for the award top ten were electric:

2022 Best Cars of The Year results

Bridie Schmidt

Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model 3 and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.