MotorBiscuit Announces Our 2022 Vehicle Award Winners
In 2022, our writers and editors found many unique enrichments with several vehicles that set new standards for value, performance, technology, or driving experience. Last year we first recognized excellence with our inaugural MotorBiscuit Vehicle Awards. As our editors and writers drove and tested dozens of new vehicles this year, we all kept an eye out for the best cars, trucks, SUVs, and electric vehicles. And there were a lot in 2022.
Value is the theme for our 2022 winners
This year, value was a theme. Buyers are looking for reliability, utility, and a low price for features (or ground-pounding power), and manufacturers are responding. Our list includes the most inexpensive truck you can buy, an SUV that punches above its weight with features and comfort, a bargain world-beating sports car, a futuristic EV that is here today, and a luxury sedan that is a high-tech treat. Congratulations to our 2022 MotorBiscuit Vehicle Awards winners.
Truck of the Year: 2022 Ford Maverick
The 2022 Ford Maverick came out of left field but became a home run for Ford. Nobody would have expected a $20,000 unibody truck, that’s a hybrid no less, to be this good. The Maverick is not just the least-expensive truck you can buy today but the least-expensive hybrid. It does most truck stuff you’ll need in a stylish, compact, and incredibly fuel-efficient way.
The Maverick starts at $19,995. Its base hybrid engine makes 191 horsepower yet still returns 42 mpg in the city. Of course, you can order it in a non-hybrid version with all-wheel drive or in more luxurious trim packages. But every Maverick seats five comfortably and has a 54-inch cargo bed that can hold up to 18 sheets of 4×8-foot three-quarter-inch plywood sheets without the need to load them at an angle.
SUV of the Year: 2022 Kia Telluride
Kia could change the name of this SUV to the Sell-u-a-ride and not miss a beat. The three-row 2022 Kia Telluride SUV has an upscale interior, modern tech, and a stylish exterior that is raising the bar in the segment. For 2022 the Telluride gets a larger touchscreen and some more creature comforts that simply increased the value of this $33,390 SUV.
The Telluride in luxury SX trim can compete with SUVs that cost $10,000 more, and not just on features but power, too, with its 290-horsepower V6. It also has plenty of room for cargo or people, and it’s packed with lots of thoughtful touches, like a low liftover height for the cargo area that makes loading it easier.
Car of the Year: 2022 Chevrolet Corvette
The 2022 Chevrolet Corvette delivers performance and panache that is equal to or greater than vehicles that cost $100,000 more. If you drive one, be prepared for people to yell, “Hey, nice Lamborghini.” But, this is an all-American take on a supercar with a base price of about $60,000. It’s an approachable supercar with almost 500 horsepower that comes with a warranty that can be serviced at nearly any GM dealer. Try that with a Ferrari.
Sure, you can easily spend $75,000 on the new C8 in 3LT trim. But for the first time, any Corvette looks and feels like the exotic supercar that it has grown to become, not just the top-line versions. Chevy also understands that its buyers want to drive the Corvette, not just pose. To that end, designers made it easy to get in and out of, its transmission is smooth, its interior is top-notch, and it even has plenty of storage.
EV/Hybrid of the Year: 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5
When you get in the new 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5, you feel like you’re living in 2032, not 2022. The electric Ioniq 5 SUV seems to manage an EV hat trick of packaging an excellent ride, unmatched comfort, and great driving manners with quiet power. While it’s not as large as other SUVs, it still manages to seat five comfortably, offers all-wheel drive, and has a good-sized cargo area. It even earned an IIHS Top Safety Pick+ designation.
The Ioniq 5 looks futuristic outside, but Hyundai didn’t forget about the interior, where we spend our time, where it added most of the creature comforts we all want. You can slip it into quiet mode and turn on the sounds of nature, which is just the mode to hear the tires squeal to deal with its optional 320-horsepower dual-motor drive.
Best Driving Experience: 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS
The 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS is the first sedan from Mercedes’s new EQ line of electric vehicles. If the EQS is any indication, we can’t wait to drive the rest of the line. Very few vehicles can justify a $102,310 price tag, but with great tech, high-quality materials, and Space Shuttle-like acceleration, the EQS manages that feat.
The new MBUX screen, which has a combined 56 inches of screens, provides an incredible across-the-dash view of everything that the car is doing. It also has several bits of luxury that will make other luxury cars luxurious, with no indication that Benz cut any corners on this super sedan. The EQS is the brand’s new flagship sedan, and eventually, what we see in the top-level Benzes trickles down to lesser Benzes. We can’t wait.
Congratulations to this year’s MotorBiscuit Vehicle Awards winners. We’re already looking forward to the 2023 Vehicle Awards. Will EVs again top our lists? What truck will top the Maverick? What will beat the EQS for driving experience next year?
