2019 New Car Awards name the best of the best
IT was months in the planning, weeks in the writing and days in the shooting all of the coveted Auto Express New Car Awards winners to put together our biggest issue of the year. Many victors in many classes went forward to fight for the overall gong, but there could only be one winner.
Showing the successful onset of electric cars and just how talented the best of them are, the Tesla Model 3 drove away with the title as our Car of the Year. It fought off stiff competition from cars like the Skoda Scala in the process.
Tesla has led the charge when it comes to premium electric cars, and its Model 3 not only brought the entry price to Tesla ownership down to a more affordable level when it launched (although it’s still not exactly cheap), but also addressed some of the issues we’d had with previous Tesla models. Quality felt like a step forward and, if not perfect, an improvement.
But it was the ease of use that impressed us. An official range of 254 miles was backed up by an easy 220 miles from the efficiency numbers we recorded, so the Standard Range Plus model will be enough car for most.
The Performance showed it was lightning quick – as rapid as some super-saloons – while a greater claimed range of 329 miles is also offered. That’s thanks to its bigger battery, making it the model to choose if you want to cure your range anxiety.
In the other classes, there were wins for Skoda with its new Scala. It knocked the Volkswagen Golf off the top spot in the family car class, thanks to its blend of space and affordability without sacrificing kit.
New entrants like the Mercedes E 300 de plug-in hybrid showed what a good halfway house looks like if you’re not ready for a full EV. Elsewhere, the Ford Fiesta and Honda Civic Type R cemented their positions to hold on to their respective supermini and hot hatchback titles.
The overriding impression we got from the best new cars on sale was that we’ve rarely had it so good. From refined, mature city cars like the VW up! to luxury models such as the Mercedes S-Class and our Performance Car winner – the all-new Porsche 911 – there’s something for all tastes and all budgets. But the common theme with the 26 cars we crowned as class winners was that they’re all extremely well executed machines that deliver exactly what a buyer who’s looking for those respective vehicles wants. This is what makes an Auto Express New Car Award winner.
BACK in July, the new MINI Electric was revealed, and we got the chance to try it out on the circuit that would host a round of the all-electric Formula E Championship in New York.
While other makers have given their electric superminis a 200 mile-plus range, MINI deliberately opted for a more compact and lighter 32.5kWh battery. While this resulted in ‘just’ 122 miles of range on a single charge, MINI boss Peter Schwarzenbauer argued that this was more than enough for the average weekly commute. The other benefit of the smaller battery is that it should make the car much more agile than its rivals. To judge from our first encounter with it, MINI’s engineers might have a point.
With the battery placed in the floor, the MINI Electric boasts a low centre of gravity, which delivers a fun, darty driving experience. Performance is strong, too: a 181bhp output means 0-62mph takes a sprightly 7.3 seconds.
Another benefit of that smaller battery is price. The EV starts from around £24,400, once the Government’s Plug-in Car Grant is considered, making it competitive with petrol MINIs.
The MINI Electric boasts a low centre of gravity, which delivers a fun, darty driving experience
THE unveiling of the first all-new Lotus in almost a decade didn’t disappoint: the £1.7million Evija hypercar wowed us when it first broke cover, and the fascination didn’t stop at the wild venturi tunnels that exit from the car’s hooplike LED tail-lights. That’s because the Evija showcased an all-electric drivetrain with numbers that defied belief. Four motors – one for each wheel – combine to produce a staggering 1,972bhp and 1,700Nm. That’s enough for a 0-62mph time below three seconds, a 0-184mph time under nine, and a top speed of more than 200mph.