Call it a sign of the times.
The World Car Awards (WCA) is adding a new category for the 2022 award – electric vehicles.
Starting this fall at the New York International Auto Show, the WCA name what its jurors believe is the best EV along with the rest of its awards.
“There has never been a better time to highlight and celebrate the world’s best electric vehicles,” said Auto Show president, Mark Schoenberg. “We are thrilled to once again be part of this year’s World Car Awards and are excited about adding this new award to the program.
“With the importance of EVs and growing consumer interest, the need for trusted sources for consumers to turn to is paramount, and like the New York Auto Show, the industry’s top journalists that make up the World Car Awards are a trusted resource for buyers as they research their next new vehicle.”
What are the World Car Awards?
The World Car Awards features more than 90 global jurors drive a variety of vehicles from around the world and select the best of those each year.
They test drive and evaluate all new or fully redesigned vehicles sold on more than one continent from May to May each year. Jurors select the best in the following categories: World Car Design, World Luxury Car, World Performance Car, World Urban Car and World Car of the Year – and now World Electric Vehicle of the Year.
Adding electric vehicles
Scotty Reiss, founder of the “A Girls Guide to Cars” website and part of the World Cars Awards steering committee, said an exclusive EV category was a decision long in the making.
“We went back and forth on how to recognize EVs and other alternative forms of power,” Reiss said. “Last year we dropped the ‘Green Car of the Year’ category because the market place came to the point where you really don’t need to recognize green cars as being separate because there are so many green cars in all of our categories.”
On the other hand, there are now enough EVs to justify having a separate category, she said.
“Last year we had the Porsche Taycan EV won in the performance category,” Reiss said. “But now we see enough EVs in all of our categories to justify a separate EV division.”
Next round of awards
The group is proceeding with its 2021 awards, 2022 will be the first year where there will be an EV division, Reiss said.
“The 2021 finalists will be announced in April and the winners will be unveiled in August at the New York City Auto Show,” Reiss said. “Once that’s done, we kick off the judging process for 2022. For the EV category, we will look at all EVs that meet our criteria. They must be new cars. So the redesigned Bolt will probably qualify, but older models of other EVs won’t be eligible. The other criteria will be that the EV in question must be sold on at least two continents. This is a World Car Award after all.”
The EVs that meet the criteria will be then judged by 93 jurors from around the world, with the winner named in 2022.