[imagesource: The Car of the Year]

Before announcing 2022’s Car of the Year, let’s just acknowledge the struggle it took to get to this point.

The competition’s original 61 jurors across 23 countries had no choice but to swap the eligible cars in an underground network that took place across Europe due to restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic.

With immense effort, they finally arrived at a seven-car shortlist, but then the Russian invasion of Ukraine hit and that sent the announcement into turmoil.

After the jury committee decided to suspend the Russian votes from the award, along with the two jurors from that country and delete the flag from the event, The Telegraph reported, the announcement could finally be made.

Although, not at the Geneva International Motor Show, which was cancelled, but rather in a ceremony at the Palexpo exhibition centre in Geneva, Switzerland.

Without further ado, Kia’s electric EV6 has been crowned the 2022 Car of the Year with 279 points:

Image: Car of the Year

In second was the Renault Mégane E-Tech Electric with 265 points, while in third was the Kia’s close relation, the Hyundai Ioniq 5, with 261 points.

The EV6 marks the first Kia (and South Korean manufacturer) to win the award, as well as the third pure battery-electric car to do so, per Autocar.

Kia worked hard to produce this car worthy of a win, where carmakers can’t buy the votes or influence the result:

What carried the day for the 59 judges was the Kia’s combination of clever electrical underpinnings (which it shares with the Hyundai Ioniq 5), a well-judged and spacious modern interior and a body style which doesn’t slavishly follow the current vogue for high-riding sport utilities (SUVs).

Image: Car of the Year

The EV6’s 800-volt operating system allows current flows in and out of the battery much faster than conventional battery-electric cars, which tend to operate on half this voltage. It also means the Kia’s large 77.4kWh battery can be charged faster than rivals, which helps ease long cross-country journeys where the UK recharging network can be patchy.

Image: Car of the Year / Autocar

The car can cost around £40 949 (almost R850 000) in the rear-wheel-drive version, which claims a range of up to 530 kilometres.

The Toyota Yaris claimed the top prize last year, preceded by the Peugeot 208 in 2020.

[sources:telegraph&autocar]