Kia EV6 awarded top prize for setting new benchmarks in the EV segment.
Automotive Daily partner publication What Car? has named Kia’s EV6 Car of the year 2022, right on the cusp of the new model launching in Australia.
The electric SUV earned the top prize for setting new benchmarks for electric cars, with an official range of 528km and managing 361km in a near worst-case low temperature conditions test conducted by What Car?’s testers. The judges also praised its super-fast, 800V charging capability, allowing for a 10-80 per cent charge in as little ast 18 minutes.
In addition, the EV6 earned praise for being hugely spacious, very refined even by electric car standards and for being sold with the reassurance of a standard-setting seven-year warranty.
The EV6’s victory was announced at the What Car? Awards event, at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel. It is the second time Kia has won the overall What Car? Car of the Year Award, having taken a maiden victory in 2019 with the Kia e-Niro.
“Once again, Kia has set a new benchmark for an electric vehicle,” What Car? editor Steve Huntingford said. “The EV6 is a terrific all-rounder that answers electric car buyers’ questions around range and charging times brilliantly, and which offers terrific space, refinement and value for money.
“Kia’s progress has long been impressive, but it is the way that it has seized the opportunity offered by the transition to electric cars that has made it a leader in the market. Coming hot on the heels of its victory with the e-Niro in 2019, this Car of the Year win cements its position alongside Tesla as one of the most exciting electric car makers on the planet.”
The win makes Kia only the third non-European manufacturer to win the top prize at the What Car? Awards, which began in 1978.