CleanTechnica Car of the Year Nominees & Voting — Europe Edition – CleanTechnica

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The US edition of 2024 CleanTechnica Car of the Year voting is well underway, and it’s time now to turn our attention to Europe. The rules are the same. The general aim is to identify the new vehicle model that is likely to have the biggest net positive effect on the world, particularly when it comes to protecting a stable climate for humanity. That could mean outcompeting a ton of dirty fossil fuel models in a highly inefficient vehicle class, or it could mean selling 10 times more than that in a smaller, efficient vehicle class. Or it could mean dramatically influencing the market and stimulating more change beyond that model and beyond that automaker. There could be other net positive effects not mentioned here as well, and it’s all guesswork in any case, as we don’t know what the future brings.

Here are some more details on the criteria before jumping into the 2024 finalists and voting:

The main aim is to choose the vehicle that we think will have the largest net positive impact on the world. That can mean the electric vehicle that is expected to get the most sales and thus replace the most fossil fueled vehicles, or it can mean that we think the vehicle is transformative and will influence the auto industry beyond its own sales alone. It’s your call to decide which of the finalists you think will have the most impact. This year, though, since we’re now doing region-specific awards, the task is to pick the vehicle you think will have the most positive impact on the world from within the boundaries of the award region (in other words, if one model is also being sold in China and the others aren’t, that doesn’t give the model sold in China any advantage in this competition).

In terms of candidates, the models have to arrive on the market in the last two quarters of the previous year (2023 in this case) or the first two quarters of the award year (2024 in this case).

Okay, so who are our finalists?

2024 Finalists in Europe

Short introductions and explanations are below, with pricing and links from the automakers’ UK websites. The range figures provided are for the lowest-priced trims — models offer more range at higher prices. You can vote here.

The Volkswagen ID.7 is currently Volkswagen’s flagship EV. It’s a highly compelling electric vehicle with great everything at, well, not a low price, but not an insane price. The mid-priced option offers a whopping 436 miles of range for a price of £55,500. The model is stacked with modern features, from massage seats to 3-zone air conditioning to an augmented reality head-up display. It’s “normal looking,” yet futuristic and stylish. It was just 31st on the EV best sellers list in the UK last month, but it is a vehicle that leads the way with prestige, status, and desire that encourages other EV purchases and just an overall opening of the public consciousness to an EV future. Across Europe, despite its higher-than-average price, the ID.7 was the 5th best selling pure electric vehicle.

The BYD Seal is about £6,000 cheaper but is offering a similar kind of appeal and quality. It doesn’t have the massage seats, but it’s got better infotainment, a head-up display, leather heated seats, and its own appeal styling and branding wise. BYD sales haven’t taken off yet in Europe, and maybe they never will, but BYD is the top seller of plugin vehicles globally by a wide margin, so one has to assume the company will continue trying to make inroads into the European market and grow its brand presence there. Last month, the Seal (RWD) and Seal Excellence (AWD) combined for 314 sales in the UK, which put it 38th in the EV best sellers ranking in the country. Of course, one has to note that the European Union has put significant tariffs on Chinese produced EV models, which will negatively impact its sales in the EU.

The Volvo EX30 is a much more mass-market electric model, which also slides into the popular crossover/small SUV category. It’s already an established top seller in Europe, ending up 4th among pure electric vehicles in October, one place above the aforementioned Volkswagen ID.7. In the UK, it was the 16th best selling EV last month. The EX30 has received positive reviews across the globe. The tricky bit here is the low-priced version also comes with quite low range for an EV model this decade (still plenty for me, but most people prefer more range), but you can get up to nearly 300 miles of range by going up to the £37,050 mid-priced trim. (There’s really no breaking the rule — more range requires more battery cells which cost more money. What the perfect tradeoff is between cost and range varies from person to person.)

The Kia EV9 is this year’s multi-continental finalist. The EV9 offers a ton of space, three rows of seating with the 6-seat or 7-seat configuration, modern tech, enough range, and really everything you could ask for at not insane pricing. It has gotten great review after great review, including from our own Jennifer Sensiba, and has won numerous awards already. With its relatively high price (and large size), however, it’s not topping the sales charts. It was the 72nd best selling EV in the UK last month.

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