Kia officials said that innovative working to meet eco-friendly market gradually became their main goal in the market, so receiving an award in UKCOTY last February 12, 2020, pleased them so much. Also, they promised that they would show a variety of eco-friendly cars for society and give their clients full satisfaction.

UKCOTY, UK Car of the Year, chose Kia's e-Niro as the best crossover car last February 12th, 2020. Twenty-nine journalists selected cars as the best model for nine different categories, and one of the selected cars was chosen as "UK Car of The Year". Additionally, UKCOTY picked Tesla Model 3 for "the UK Car of The Year" which Kia's e-Niro pushed by just one point.

▲ Kia` s e-Niro

▲ Kia`s e-Niro interior

Alex Grant, one of the UKCOTY judges and journalists picked the outstanding electric powertrain and space utility as the strong points of e-Niro. It provides 150 kW maximum output and 395 Nm maximum torque. Also, its space trunk is 451 L based on VDA, which can load a variety of objects taking a family of five in it. HE highly appraised the long-distance and fast charging time of this electric car. Because of its heat pump system to maximize the battery efficiency, its distance per charge is 455 km based on WLTP and 64 kWh battery, and charging the battery to 80 percent would only take fifty minutes. Moreover, the high quality of citizenship in the UK about the consumption of eco-friendly cars takes the popularity of Kia e-Niro. The UK is one of the strictest countries worldwide to reduce carbon dioxide emissions for carbon neutral in 2050. Recently, the UK government implements the banning of selling an engine-driven car from 2035 to 2040. Also, they lead the way of constructing an EV charging infrastructure.

▲ kia`s e-Niro trunk

In this rapidly changing world, whose battery is better and whose charging system is better are the main points in the EV market. That is why Tesla Model 3 won the grand prize in UKCOTY. Countries that will ban engine-driven cars in the future increase today. So, how to persuade consumers is up to car companies.

March 8th, 2020

by 곽경민