Currently reading: What Car? names 2020 Electric Car Awards winners

New event names best electric and plug-in hybrid models across 16 categories

Autocar's sister title What Car? has revealed the winners of its inaugural Electric Car Awards, held in association with charging point provider Myenergi.

The Awards were launched following a surge in interest in electric cars online during lockdown. As restrictions eased in early July, 26% of What Car?’s audience said they were more inclined to buy an EV or PHEV as a result of the changed environment they were living in, while interest in the stories outlining the best electric and plug-in hybrid cars on sale today surged, out-performing other areas of the website.

Steve Huntingford, editor of What Car?, said: “Our goal has always been to help people buy the best car for their needs and budget, but it became clear that the booming number of new EVs and PHEVs, combined with the intricacies of some of the new technology associated with owning and charging these cars, was causing confusion.

“The variety of electric and plug-in hybrid cars on offer is growing exponentially, which is great news for buyers, because it’s driving up standards. However, recognising that EVs and PHEVs still make up a minority of all car sales, these standalone awards give us the opportunity to highlight the very best models as the car industry swiftly adapts to meeting its environmental challenges.”

New electric cars 2020: What’s coming and when?​

The 16 categories were devised to help buyers of every need and budget make the best choice for them, with the growing number of competitors fighting for sales across the market reflected by the fact that 12 different manufacturers won awards. Only BMW, Kia, Porsche and Tesla won two awards, while only Kia and Porsche have an electric and a hybrid winner.

See below for the full list of winners:

ELECTRIC CARS

Value car: Seat Mii Electric 36.8kWh

Small car: Peugeot e-208 Allure Premium

Family car: Hyundai Ioniq Electric Premium

Family SUV: Kia e-Niro 64kWh 3

Luxury SUV: Jaguar I-Pace EV400 S

Executive car: Tesla Model 3 Performance

Performance car: Porsche Taycan 4S

Seven-seater: Tesla Model X (7 seat)

PLUG-IN HYBRIDS

Family car: Mercedes A-Class A250e AMG Line

Small SUV: Kia Niro PHEV 1.6 GDi 3

Large SUV: Ford Kuga PHEV 2.5 PHEV Titanium

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Luxury SUV: BMW X5 xDrive45e M Sport 

Estate car: Skoda Superb Estate iV SE Technology

Executive car: BMW 3 Series 330e M Sport

Performance car: Porsche Panamera 4 E-Hybrid

Seven-seater: Volvo XC90 Recharge T8 Inscription

The best overall electric and plug-in hybrid cars from across the 16 categories will be named at the What Car? Car of the Year Awards in January 2021.

Read more

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gavsmit 6 August 2020

More nonsense

I've read car magazines since I was a young child and their verdicts have got worse over time. 

For example, awards-type editions never seem to include the whole market any more, just preferred makes or recently tested models rather than everything on sale. No thought is given to more important day-to-day car qualities either like what is a better private ownership prospect rather than a car that has slightly better 'on the limit' handling abilities (pointless on today's congested roads). 

With relevance to this item, why has the Seat Mii taken honours over the Skoda Citigo in the value car class? Isn't the Skoda basically the same car but cheaper and has better customer satisfaction survey results? 

Regarding the small car class, you can achieve huge discounts on the electric Vauxhall Corsa which is basically the same car as the 208, yet the 208 wins.

Car magazines stink of 'that'll do' rather than being thorough these days - What Car magazine's new car listings containing specifications and prices is absolutely appalling, with errors and out of date information all over the place.

If you want a new car, do your own analysis from decent, impartial, websites, read owner's reviews then take lots of test drives before scanning online broker sites for what you should be looking to pay - that's the only way you'll find a car that's right for you at the right price.

289 5 August 2020

For Pete's sake....

....stop licking Tesla's arse Autocar!

You have created a class of one so that the model X can win, and the Tesla model 3 was by your own admission, not particularly well built. So how does this get to win?

Just Saying 5 August 2020

Just clicked on a couple of the links above

The Three Series looks sooo dated now.
Obviously, electric cars look different, esp. from the front which confirms my observation.
But, am I alone or does anybody else agree about the Three Series?