2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Storms World Car Awards
It’s a safe bet to say that Hyundai and its sibling brands are crushing it in the design department right now. Case in point, just look at the Hyundai Ioniq 5. Admittedly, styling is always subjective. But still, the electric SUV (crossover) looks like Italdesign meets Tron in the best way possible. And now, thanks to the World Car Awards, the Ioniq 5 has extra credentials to back up these claims.
Almost all the 2022 World Car Awards finalists were electric
Every year, over 100 automotive journalists and designers gather to vote on the industry’s best new products at the World Car Awards. ‘Best’ in this case being the innovative, groundbreaking, and otherwise excellent cars that debuted over the past year. And in 2022, that meant 102 jurors from 33 countries choosing between 28 different models.
Despite their similar names, the World Car Awards and the Women’s World Car of the Year are separate organizations. However, some of their voting categories overlap. In the former’s case, the jurors vote on the following awards:
- World Car of the Year
- World Luxury Car
- World Performance Car
- World Urban Car
- World Electric Car
- World Car Design of the Year
The 2022 Awards had a complicating twist, though. For the first time, all the World Car of the Year finalists were electric. So, the deck was stacked in favor of an electric car taking at least two of the six awards.
The Hyundai Ioniq 5 didn’t win two awards, though: it won three.
The 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 scored a World Car Awards trifecta
For 2022, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 was a finalist in three categories: World Car of the Year, World Electric Car, and World Car Design of the Year. And it won all three awards. Considering it draws some inspiration from the fantastically-rad Hyundai Grandeur Concept, the Design win makes sense. But the Ioniq 5 had some pretty stiff competition in the other categories, too.
For one, its Hyundai Motor Company sibling, the Kia EV6, was both a World Car and World Car Design of the Year finalist. The Ford Mustang Mach-E, MotorBiscuit’s 2021 Hybrid/EV of the Year, was also a World Car finalist. And in the World Electric Car category, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 faced the Mercedes-Benz EQS and the Audi e-tron GT.
Speaking of those EVs, they didn’t go home empty-handed. The EQS won World Luxury Car while the e-tron GT won World Performance Car. In fact, the only award an EV didn’t win was World Urban Car. The Toyota Yaris Cross—remember, this is a global event—won that category.
Does this mean it’s a good electric car?
Admittedly, winning at the World Car Awards doesn’t mean a car is foolproof. For example, although the Volkswagen ID.4 won the 2021 World Car of the Year Award, it’s not a Consumer Reports recommendation. And CR has some quips with the Hyundai Ioniq 5, too.
However, those quips are largely outweighed by the EV’s other praiseworthy qualities. It’s spacious, comfortable, charges quickly, has over 300 miles of range in RWD form, and have we mentioned the styling? All these factors played a role in Car and Driver naming it an Editor’s Choice, not to mention the WCA hat trick.
Still, the best way to figure out if the Hyundai Ioniq 5 earned these wins is to drive one for yourself.
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