Kia EV6 named 2022 carsales Car of the Year

The Kia EV6 has today been announced as the 2022 carsales Car of the Year, proudly presented by Bingle.

Defeating a field of both electric and conventionally powered finalists, the all-new dedicated electric SUV is the most accomplished mainstream electric car available in Australia today, and further compelling evidence of the EV revolution currently taking place in the local marketplace.

Of the 10 finalists plus two wildcards that progressed to the final stage of carsales Car of the Year testing (from hundreds of eligible model variants released over the past 12 months, from which we shortlisted 30 contenders), five were EVs – all of them SUVs.

In total, nine of the 12 carsales COTY finalists were SUVs – further proof that the flexible layout has become a default choice for car-makers big and small.

Kia’s first standalone electric vehicle, the EV6 was the hot favourite going into 2022 carsales Car of the Year, given the all-electric crossover SUV is closely related to our 2021 COTY, the Hyundai IONIQ 5 – the second EV to claim our top gong following the Tesla Model S in 2015.

Much more than a facsimile of its cousin, however, the newer Kia EV6 builds on the impressive Hyundai EV’s strengths with much-improved chassis dynamics and genuine driver involvement thanks its locally-tuned ride/handling package.

When it arrived early in 2022, the Kia EV6 also launched with a lower starting price and, until the upgraded MY23 IONIQ 5 arrives this month, boasts a bigger battery, longer range and more power.

Most importantly, the Kia EV6 excelled when measured against our five Car of the Year criteria – cost of ownership, safety, innovation and technology, practicality and presentation, and ride/handling.

First launched at $67,990 plus on-road costs, the Kia EV6 range now starts at $72,590 plus on-road costs for the entry-level, single-motor Air RWD variant, with the up-spec GT-Line RWD grade adding an extra $7000 ($79,590 plus ORCs). The range-topping dual-motor all-wheel drive EV6 – only available as a GT-Line – costs $87,590 plus ORCs.

The carsales Car of the Year award applies to the existing Kia EV6 range, sales of which topped 500 units to October this year.

Despite being Kia Australia’s most expensive model line, the Kia EV6 scored very strongly when it comes to cost of ownership. Indeed, the Kia EV6 ranked first overall in the cost of ownership dataset crunched by the experts at RedBook.com.au.

RedBook’s unique and comprehensive cost of ownership data determines 50 per cent of each carsales Car of the Year finalists’ score. The data is crunched on all 30 of our shortlisted contenders.

To calculate the data RedBook not only evaluates purchase price, standard equipment levels and aftersales provisions (warranty, roadside assist, etc), but also finance, depreciation, insurance, service and running costs (tyres, fuel/electricity, etc) over three years or 45,000km.

The Kia EV6 was also ranked highest by our 10 experienced judges, five of which ranked the classy electric SUV first, with another three placing it second, making for a dominant victory.

While Kia claimed its second carsales Car of the Year award following the Sorento in 2020, the EV6 was joined by two Highly Commended models on the 2022 COTY podium – the Genesis GV60 and Cupra Formentor, which also claimed the People’s Choice award this year.

Both models are standalone mid-size all-wheel drive SUVs from emerging challenger brands. While the GV60 is an accomplished electric luxury SUV from South Korea, the Formentor is a compelling turbocharged performance crossover from Spain.

2022 carsales Car of the Year finalists:
BMW iX xDrive40
BYD Atto 3 Extended Range
Cupra Formentor VZx
Ford Everest Sport
Honda Civic VTi-LX
Jeep Grand Cherokee L Summit Reserve
Kia EV6 GT-Line AWD
Mercedes-Benz C 200
Tesla Model Y RWD
Volkswagen Polo Style
2022 carsales Car of the Year wildcards:
Genesis GV60 Performance Lux
Toyota Corolla Cross Atmos AWD Hybrid

To be eligible for carsales Car of the Year, vehicles must be: