For the first time, Jeep’s electric vehicle is the European Car of the Year
The winner of the 2022 European Car of the Year competition has been named. As we predicted (although it was an easy guess), the first place was taken by an electric vehicle. For the first time in history, an electric Jeep won. 57 jury members from 22 European countries almost unanimously awarded the victory to the electric SUV, the Jeep Avenger, the first electric jeep and the first jeep specially designed for Europe. The electric vehicle takes the European Car of the Year title for the second year in a row: in 2022, the innovative Korean electric SUV, the Kia EV6 was the leader. This vehicle is already on sale in Israel.
Voting has been held for 60 years, and this year the competition has an anniversary date. Only new or seriously updated models that go on sale within a year before the date of the winner announcement can claim the European Car of the Year title. In order to vote for their favorites, each member of the jury can “spend” 25 points, and they need to be distributed among at least 5 models and at the same time take into account that a maximum of 10 points can be given to one model.
In order to take the main prize, Jeep’s first mass-produced electric vehicle had to score 328 points. Recall that the Jeep Avenger debuted in October 2021, received one electric motor with a capacity of 156 hp and a battery with a capacity of 54 kWh with a driving range of 400 km (WLTP cycle). The smallest in the range, just over 4 m long, made specifically for Europe, the Jeep bears little resemblance to iconic American SUVs: it is front-wheel drive only and is based on Stellantis platform, so it is largely unified with the Peugeot 2008. The novelty will be released in Poland.
‘It’s a great honor for me and the entire team. One thousand people were assigned to the project, working daily with full commitment and passion to deliver’
The Volkswagen electric minivan, the ID.Buzz, came second in the prestigious European competition (241 points). The third place belongs to the electric SUV, the Nissan Ariya with a driving range of up to 610 km (211 points).
The fourth place (200 points) belongs to the Kia Niro compact hybrid SUV, which is already available in the second generation. The Renault Austral hybrid SUV came fifth with 163 points.
The sixth place is occupied by the Peugeot 408, a new crossover coupe for Europe, presented by Stellantis in June 2022 (149 points). The Toyota bZ4X and Subaru Solterra electric SUVs took the seventh place with 133 points.
Well, since judges usually prefer relatively affordable mass-produced cars, therefore the first Ferrari SUV with the strong name ‘Thoroughbred’ (Purosangue) and the most powerful 6.5-liter V12 engine with 725 hp, as well as Chinese sedan, the Xpeng P5, the first production electric car with full-fledged LiDAR sensors, couldn’t make it to the final.
