Best in Electric: The 2022 EVIE Awards

General Guides  Low Emission Vehicles 

In 2012 around 130,000 electric cars were sold worldwide. A decade on and that many are now sold in a single week. The sector is exploding, with an estimated 16 million EVs now on the road globally. And like every other industry, once it's established long enough the awards start being handed out. In the case of electric vehicles everyone is chasing an EVIE – Electric Vehicle Innovation and Excellence Award. And this year it's Volkswagen that has come out on top.

Volkswagen Group UK has been awarded the prestigious title of ‘OEM of the Year' at the third annual EVIE Awards.

The award was judged by a panel of industry experts, with the nominees primarily scored on the range of electric cars they currently offer. A strong focus was also placed on the wider electrification strategy, consumer engagement, partnerships with charging manufacturers and supply chain sustainability. Given the fact that the VW group as a whole includes not only the VW badge but also Audi, SEAT, Cupra, and Skoda it's not really a surprise that the prize ended up where it did.

In the last two years Volkswagen has already given us the family hatch ID.3, the compact SUV ID. 4, the ID.5 SUV-coupe, and the retro-looking ID. Buzz. Add the Cupra Born, Skoda Enyaq iV, and the Audi Q4 e-tron and e-tron GT to the list and you get the point. The aim is to provide a fully electric vehicle for everyone. In the next decade VW aims to launch around 70 fully electric vehicles so there will be an option for every size and every budget. It's taking the “People's car” name literally.

The aim of the EVIE Awards is to highlight the best of everything the EV industry has to offer. It's not just the cars that count, it's also about the infrastructure, the services, the clever solutions, and the people behind them.

The list of EVIE winners also included:

The Best New Product or Service (domestic) award, which rewards the parts of the industry that are specifically aimed at home users. This year, clean energy company Egg saw off more than 20 other entrants to win the award for its pay-monthly home EV charger.

With the Egg EV Charger Plan, you pay £27.50 per month over three years for a fully installed 7.2 kW EV wall charger. The price breaks down to £24.50 (0% APR) per month for the charger bundled with the Egg Plus plan for £3 per month, which offers full maintenance cover, should anything go wrong. The judges praised Egg's pay-monthly solution, saying in particular that it is “ideal for lease or company car users who don't have £1,000 ready cash for a chargepoint”.

If you're anywhere near Oxford you could pay a visit to the charging destination of the year.

This award is to recognise specific, individual EV charging destinations, be they motorway service stations, public car parks, retail outlets or any other publicly accessible charging destination.

Energy Superhub Oxford scooped the prize this year. Situated at the Redbridge Park and Ride and only opened in July, it offers fast to ultra-rapid charging for 42 vehicles at once, all powered entirely by renewable energy. It brings together three different chargepoint operators at one location and has been designed so that drivers can charge up quickly and be on their way or leave their vehicle charging while they visit the city centre for the day.

The people who make a difference are also rewarded for their efforts.

The Special Recognition award is designed to celebrate the achievements of truly inspiring individuals within the EV sector, reflecting on those who have taken the industry forward through their leadership, dedication, and ingenuity.

Having co-founded Zap-Map back in 2014, Melanie Shufflebotham remains a driving force in the company's growth. The go-to app for Britain's EV drivers, Zap-Map helps you search for available charge points, plan longer electric journeys and pay for charging when out and about. There are currently over 450,000 registered users on Zap-Map, and the app has seen impressive growth in users as the number of EVs in the UK has expanded to over half a million.

Finally, one particular winner might be useful if you're considering the switch to an EV but still have a few reservations.

New for 2022, the EV marketing/branding campaign of the year category is awarded for a specific marketing and/or branding campaign by an EV-dedicated company. It sounds a bit vague and there's an excellent chance you've never heard of the winner, Novuna Vehicle Solutions.

It developed a campaign to raise awareness of electric cars and to help UK drivers make the switch to an EV. Warmly titled “Charge Site Chats”, they spoke to London Taxi drivers, van drivers, Tesla enthusiasts, and regular families who shared their experiences of driving, charging, and living with an electric car, and why they'll never go back to a petrol or diesel. The interviews – which unsurprisingly take place next to an EV charger – all feature on the Novuna Vehicle Solutions YouTube channel so if you want to know what it's like to live with an EV that's an excellent place to start. We should also add that Novuna Vehicle Solutions is one of our funder partners helping us provide electric lease cars for everyone.

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