PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — Electric vehicles won two out of three categories for the first time at this year’s North American Car, Truck and Utility of the Year Awards.
Ford’s F-150 Lightning electric pickup won the truck category, while Kia’s battery-powered EV6 was named best SUV. The Integra, a small sedan from Honda’s performance brand Acura, was named Car of the Year.
Six of the nine finalists were battery-powered, and analysts say most of the awards are likely to go to electric vehicles in the future as the industry spends billions to bring several new EV models to market.
Fifty automotive journalists from the US and Canada are judges for the three awards, which are announced in January each year. They are selected from dozens of candidates and must be redesigned or fundamentally changed for the current model year. Car manufacturers often use the awards in advertising.
The judges evaluate the finalists on innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction, user experience and value. The selection process started last summer.
In addition to the Integra, the finalists for Car of the Year included the Genesis G80 electric sedan and the Nissan Z sports car.
The Lightning finalists were the Chevrolet Silverado ZR2 off-road pickup and the Lordstown Motors Endurance electric utility pickup.
Commercial vehicle finalists included the Cadillac Lyriq electric SUV and the Genesis GV60 electric SUV.