The EV9, the big electric people mover rolled out on to the market last year by South Korea car maker Kia, has swept some of the key global car of the year awards, including for the UK and by 63 leading women car journalists across the globe.
As we reported here at TheDriven late last week, EVs had already taken five of the seven categories vying for the top spot in the UK Car of The Year Awards.
Over the weekend, the Kia EV 9 was awarded the top gong, a runaway winner with nearly half of the 30-strong jury choosing it. The runner-up for the award was the Hyundai Ioniq 6 (built on the same e-GMP platform as the Kia) with the Volvo EX30, an electric SUV, taking third place, rounding off the electric car domination of the awards.
“The Kia EV9 is simply a superb family car thanks to seven seats as standard and a cabin that’s packed with equipment,” awards director Alisdair Suttie said.
“There’s no need to look beyond the entry-point model as it’s so generous with kit, comfort and, importantly, driving range. It does it all and does it brilliantly.”
John Challen, the co-chair of the 2024 UK Car of The Year awards said the EV9 “could be the vehicle that gets more drivers out of their petrol or diesel car than any other model.”
In a related announcement on World Women’s Day, the Kia EV9 was also declared the ‘World’s Best Car for 2024’ by the team of 63 women motoring journalists (from 45 countries on five continents) who make up the judging panel for the Women’s World Car of the Year.
Australian judge, Liz Swanton, said: “The EV9 excited me about the future possibilities for multi-purpose electric vehicles. It was hard to believe this large, comfortable and versatile vehicle did not need a tank of petrol or diesel.”
See also: Family to set off on 9-month trek towing a caravan in an electric EV9
Bryce Gaton is an expert on electric vehicles and contributor for The Driven and Renew Economy. He has been working in the EV sector since 2008 and is currently working as EV electrical safety trainer/supervisor for the University of Melbourne. He also provides support for the EV Transition to business, government and the public through his EV Transition consultancy EVchoice.