BMW iX3 Neue Klasse grabs COTY Award – wins too for Renault 4, Polestar 2 and Kia

The BMW iX3 Neue Klasse is the Electrifying.com Car of the Year, with category wins for Kia, Polestar 2 and Renault 4 E-Tech.

BMW was early to the EV game with the innovative i3 and i8, and although it was a bit late to the mainstream model EV offerings, it took the right route by effectively making EV a powertrain option rather than offering standalone EV models.

The strategy continues, but now it’s all about a new generation of Neue Klasse EVs, first with the BMW iX3 Neue Klasse revealed in September with impressive specs.

Initially only available as an iX3 50 xDrive, it offers an 800V architecture and charging speeds of up to 400kW, a 108.7kWh battery and a range of 500 miles, with a total output from its two electric motors of 463bhp. All that has seen it declared Car of the Year by Electrifying.com – which boasts the world’s most-watched EV YouTube channel – with Electrifying.com’s Ginny Buckley saying:

The phrase ‘game-changer’ is overused in the car industry, but the BMW iX3 lives up to that claim. This is BMW starting again from the ground up – new battery tech, new software, the lot – with a claimed range of up to 500 miles. But the real standout is the bigger picture: BMW hasn’t just made a better EV, it’s worked out how to build one more sustainably too. The iX3 Neue Klasse is the point where BMW’s electric future properly clicks. It’s a brilliant, deserved winner.

Other winners included Kia, voted EV Car Brand of the Year, thanks to the abilities of the new EV4, EV5, PV5 EV9 and updated EV6 GT offering something for every type of EV buyer.

The Renault 4 E-Tech followed in the footsteps of the R5 EV by being declared Best Value EV, and the Polestar 2 was declared Best Used EV, with prices now down to well under £20k