What Car? launches new Electric Car Awards

The inaugural What Car? Electric Car Awards will be held in August following an unprecedented rise in interest from consumers in more environmentally-friendly cars during lockdown.

The standalone event from What Car? will name the best pure electric (EV) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) models in a variety of buyer-friendly categories in order to support consumers looking to make the decision to switch to an electrified vehicle.

Announcing the Awards, What Car? Editor Steve Huntingford said, “The volume of electric and plug-in hybrid launches has increased dramatically in the last year. More choice is fantastic news for the growing number of prospective electric vehicle buyers – but it also makes our role in helping them choose the right car more important than ever.

“While our traditional Car of the Year Awards in January will continue to highlight the very best cars on sale, including all electric vehicles, we feel the time is right to hold a separate event that gives definitive answers as to the best electric and plug-in hybrid cars across individual categories, so that we can support the increasing number of buyers on that journey.”

During lockdown, What Car? polled its online audience weekly on their attitudes to car buying, including whether their views on cleaner motoring were changing. From a poll of more than 6000 would-be car buyers a peak of 26% said they were more inclined to buy an EV or PHEV model as a result of the changed environment they were living in.

The poll insight was backed by What Car?’s own online search data, which revealed the Tesla Model 3 was, at times, the most searched-for car on its website during lockdown, joined in the top 10 regularly by the Kia e-Niro and Hyundai Kona Electric.