And the Winner Is… 2022 Best Cars, Trucks & SUVs of the Year
Between micro-chip shortages and supply chain issues (among other things), it was a ho-hum year for auto sales. However, the opposite could be said when it came to vehicle innovation. The past year saw some truly unique new vehicle releases, especially in the electric space.
In fact, most of the vehicle innovation we observed in 2021 happened in service to the large-scale emergence of EVs to the auto market. These recent introductions continue to broaden and redefine what the EV segment is and can be in the years to come.
We looked to three trustworthy sources – NACTOY, MotorTrend and Green Car Awards – to get a feel for some of the top-rated cars, trucks and SUVs of 2022. And it’s no surprise that many winners and top contenders came from the EV sphere.
Buckle up and meet this year’s top performers.
North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year Awards (NACTOY)
The North American Car, Utility and Truck of the Year (NACTOY) awards honor automotive excellence through a self-funded, independent jury of auto journalists.
Car of the Year – Honda Civic
It may not be flashy, but the Honda Civic has proven its reliability since it debuted in 1972, making a name for the Japanese brand. The low-cost and fuel-efficient 2022 Honda Civic has been engineered for instantaneous response, featuring a sport-tuned suspension and upgraded powertrain options.
Low-cost doesn’t mean low-budget. The 2022 Honda Civic serves up plenty of technology, including a newly-available Bose Premium Sound System, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration, as well as walk away auto lock, multi-angle rearview camera, blind spot information system, USB audio interface, and Honda Sensing. Honda Sensing is an available suite of safety and drive-assistive technologies, including a collision mitigation braking system and road departure mitigation system. Perhaps one of the Honda Civics’ greatest attributes is its accessibility to a wide range of consumers, many of which are first-time new-car owners.
Truck of the Year – Ford Maverick
“Maverick truck is made for people who never knew they needed a truck.”
Described as the first affordable, efficient, and entry-level vehicle that provides pickup truck utility, the Ford Maverick was up against tough alt-powered competitors this year, like the Rivian R1T. It can be difficult to beat out the newest shiny thing, but Ford took its job seriously and created a compact truck that is urban-friendly, highly functional and comes stacked with standards – all for an affordable price.
The little hauler has room for five – plus gear – and has an optional 4K Trailer Tow Package with the available 2.0L Ecoboost engine for those who want to tow more, further. The Ford Maverick also offers FlexBed, an impressive bed system that takes a 4.5-foot bed and makes it feel bigger, with 10 available tie-downs, a 110-volt outlet and multi-position tailgate. The bed can be customized with single- or multi-dividers to corral gear and equipment. The Maverick has a 1,500-pound max payload and FX4 off-road package.
Utility Vehicle of the Year – Ford Bronco
A new take on a cult classic. Ford played to our nostalgia – and our desire to escape to the great outdoors – when it relaunched the iconic Ford Bronco in 2021. As the automaker states on its website, “This isn’t the Bronco’s first rodeo.”
The new Bronco’s capable and rugged build pays homage to its ‘60s past, but prepares for the off-road adventures its customers undertake today. Original design features like signature round headlamps, horizontal cartridge grille and short overhangs with vertical and clean flat body sides are included in the new release.
While G.O.A.T. often stands for “Greatest of All Time,” the term takes on a new meaning with the Ford Bronco. G.O.A.T. was the original internal code name for the ’66 Bronco project at Ford, meaning “Goes Over Any type of Terrain.”
So, whether you’re looking for the “G.O.A.T.,” or the “G.O.A.T.” you’ve found it.
MotorTrend
After a thorough round of evaluations and track testing, MotorTrend recognizes the best new and significantly updated vehicles with its annual Car of the Year, SUV of the Year, and Truck of the Year awards.
SUV of the Year – Genesis GV70
MotorTrend went a different direction with its sport utility pick, opting for beauty over brawn. Described as “the precise moment you realize you’ve found something you didn’t know you wanted but now can’t live without,” the Genesis GV70 is a compact luxury model that shares much with its sedan counterpart, and previous MotorTrend award-winner, the G70. Genesis is the official luxury concept brand from Hyundai.
MotorTrend touts the design risks the Genesis GV70 took as setting itself apart from its competitors: in a good way. “Its look is unconventional and fresh. … Passersby may not know what a Genesis is—yet—but when a GV70 rolls through their field of vision, they’ll know this one is something special.”
The base price of the GV70 is $42,045, and that includes AWD, adaptive cruise control, lane centering, blind-spot monitoring and a 14.5-inch screen. All that to say there’s a lot of bang for your buck here.
Truck of the Year – Rivian R1T
They say cream always rises to the top, and for MotorTrend that looked like a frothy new Rivian R1T. The model’s fresh electric take on a fully-capable pickup lends a modern look and feel to what is traditionally one of the most popular vehicle segments out there. Compared to competitors like the GMC Hummer EV pickup, the Rivian hauls more, tows more, has more storage space, drives better, has a nicer interior, rides and handles better, is only slightly slower in a straight line, and costs tens of thousands of dollars less, according to MotorTrend.
“The 2022 Rivian R1T shows the world a new way to build a pickup and new ways to think about truck design, engineering, and use case – and it gives up almost nothing in capability in the process,” writes the publication, noting the vehicle shows consumers that pickups can be much more than their traditional forefathers if you’re willing to think outside the box.
Ready to think big? Then you’re probably ready for a Rivian R1T.
Car of the Year – Lucid Air
The Lucid Air was a top contender in multiple categories and across many publications this year, winning the Luxury Green Car of the Year from Green Car Awards, (see below), as well as MotorTrend’s car of the year. The high-performing, long-range electric vehicle comes from a lesser known California-based startup manufacturer, Lucid.
The Lucid Air’s modern look is both easy on the eyes and functional. It achieves up to 1,111-horsepower and 1,390-pound-foot of torque in the Air Dream P edition, and up to 520 miles of EPA-official range in the Dream R edition, without having to install giant motors and batteries. MotorTrend notes the vehicle’s power-dense motor is both tiny and powerful, marking an innovative and sophisticated path to performance. Between the aerodynamic design to prevent drag and the powerful motor, the Lucid Air is the most efficient large electric sedan, ranking just ahead of the Tesla Model S, and in front of the Audi E-tron GT, Porsche Taycan and the Mercedes EQS.
Green Car Awards
The Green Car Awards – the most important environmental awards in the auto industry – celebrate innovative, sustainable and new-generation vehicles, and by extension the automakers, engineers, product planners, and others who make them happen.
Car of the Year – Audi Q4 e-tron
The all-electric Audi Q4 e-tron SUV is designed to merge performance and practicality, with a large dose of technology. With the Audi Q4 e-tron, EV meets AR. It’s the first Audi model to feature an available augmented reality head-up display, providing real-time vehicle information in your line of site to improve safety and function.
Speaking of safety, the Audi Q4 e-tron has Audi pre-sense front, which scans the road ahead and gives a series of warnings in case of a potential accident. If there is no response, the vehicle brakes automatically to avoid a collision or reduce the severity. Its traffic relief adaptive cruise assist maintains a preset distance to the vehicle ahead while keeping you centered in your lane.
Toss in the EPA-estimated range up to 241 miles and a battery capacity of 82 kWh, and the Audi Q4 e-tron combines form and function in an impressive – and safe – package.
Luxury Car of the Year – Lucid Air
After reading about the power-efficient, long-range Lucid Air above, it’s no wonder it won Green Car’s Luxury Green Car of the Year award as well. Acknowledging there are more affordable contenders coming in the next year, the publication felt Lucid’s mission statement – coupled with its powerfully innovative motor technology that can be scaled to higher-volume models – marked the Air as a true game-changer worth Green Car Reports’ accolades.
Lucid’s vision states, “At Lucid, we believe in the dream ahead. Our relentless focus on innovation, luxury, and sustainability moves us toward a future where you no longer have to choose between doing great things and doing the right thing.”
“Lucid is essentially betting on a future in which the vehicles that can smartly do the most with the least energy are the winners,” notes Green Car Reports. “And if you can afford a vehicle like the Air, we’d encourage you to do the same.”
Urban Car of the Year – Chevrolet Bolt EUV
If you ever wanted to ease your way into driving an electric vehicle, the Chevrolet Bolt EUV would be the way to go. Its design feels familiar and yet completely different at the same time. More importantly, Chevy made charging as simple as plugging in a smartphone, whether that be at home or at one of more than 40,000 public charging stations.
The Chevy Safety Assist makes urban driving a little less precarious. Its super cruise provides available hands-free driver assistance technology on more than 200,000 miles of compatible roads in the U.S. and Canada, and utilizes cameras and sensors for its lane detection system.
One-pedal driving captures energy by using regenerative braking to slow the vehicle. It uses only the accelerator pedal to speed up and slow down, instead of the brakes. It can even bring the Bolt EUV to a complete stop.
With its affordable price point and city-safe features, the Bolt EUV is the perfect car for someone looking to get their feet wet with EVs.
Performance Car of the Year – Tesla Model S Plaid
If you didn’t think there could be a year without a Tesla winning an award, you were right. The Tesla Model S Plaid takes home honors as the Performance Green Car of the Year. Fun fact: The “Plaid” name is a reference to the 1987 film “Space Balls.” (Throw that out at your next dinner party.)
Aside from being a conversation starter, for more reasons than just its name, the Model S Plaid has an EPA-estimated range of 396 miles, a top speed of 200 mph, can go from 0-60 mph in 1.99 seconds, and at peak power has 1,020 hp.
Did we mention the interior looks like what we can only imagine a space ship feels like? The futuristic and unconventional steering wheel allows the driver to focus on driving with no stalks and no shifting. Tesla states it pretty accurately on its website: the Telsa Model S Plaid is “Beyond Ludicrous.” … But in a good way.
If you’ve got a need for speed, then you need the Tesla Model S Plaid.
SUV of the Year – Hyundai IONIQ 5
Hyundai takes home top honors with both MotorTrend for its Genesis GV70 and Green Car Awards with its Hyundai IONIQ 5 this year. As part of Hyundai’s goal to reach carbon neutrality by 2045, the Hyundai IONIQ 5 is the automaker’s first-ever exclusively electric SUV. It will have extremely limited availability this year, capitalizing on its unique and futuristic design, innovative and airy interior, and its ultra-fast charging capabilities.
The IONIQ 5 is built on an intelligent battery platform that can be modified for different powertrain configurations, giving you more miles or more muscle, depending on what you need. While reservations are currently closed and an air of mystery hangs over the new IONIQ 5, you can still stay in the know and be on the lookout for it this year.
Commercial Car of the Year – BrightDrop EV 600
It can be tricky to make delivery vehicles look good, but BrightDrop has somehow achieved both style and function with its EV 600. BrightDrop touts lightweight electric vehicles that are purpose-built and designed for the efficient delivery of goods and services.
The BrightDrop EV 600 has available GVWR under 10,000 pounds which limits the need for additional licensing to operate. It also sports a cargo area of more than 600-cubic-feet, segment-leading safety features, and the Ultium battery platform that allows for superior range and maximizes room for cargo with space-efficient packaging.
The EV 600 has up to 250 miles of range on a full-charge and zero tailpipe emissions. It also utilizes a regenerative braking system to recover energy during deceleration, extending the vehicle’s range and the life of its friction brake pads. BrightDrop estimates more than $7,000 in savings on annual operating expenses versus a diesel alternative.
To recap, the BrightDrop EV 600 looks good, drives well and is good for the planet. What’s not to love?
Truck of the Year – Ford Maverick
Besides the many awesome capabilities listed above, the Ford Maverick tops the list for Green Truck of the Year from Green Cars because of its affordability and eco-conscious design. The Ford Maverick doesn’t feature an unattainable price point like others in its category. A regular person can afford to purchase a Maverick, making the capability to go green with eco-friendly driving habits easier than ever.
The Ford Maverick offers the first-ever standard 2.5L full-hybrid powertrain on a pickup and has an EPA-estimated 42 miles per gallon in the city and 500 miles of range on a single tank of gas. It doesn’t hurt that it feels like an SUV with the functionality of a truck.
Family Car of the Year – Toyota Sienna
The Toyota Sienna, aka Mom’s New BFF, touts itself as “More than enough.”
It features an all-hybrid powertrain and AWD capability, allowing you to adventure further for longer. The minivan also allows you to adventure in comfort. Sienna’s available super-long-slide captain’s chairs let rear passengers really stretch out. Hands-free doors and liftgate means even if your hands are full with children, wine (ahem, I mean groceries), or anything else, you can simply kick your foot to open and close the doors and liftgate. Plus, the Sienna Woodland Edition’s standard 1500-watt capable power outlet allows you to bring the comforts of home with you where your adventure takes you.
Need to bring even more? The Sienna has 3,500 pounds of towing capacity. The best part is, with four zone climate control and an epic entertainment center, you’re sure to keep your passengers comfortable and happy, whatever their preference.
Recap
If we’ve seen any trend throughout the above awards it’s that the 2022 auto industry is full of auto manufacturers looking to disrupt the status quo. No longer are traditional motor vehicles topping the list of best new vehicles. Instead, it is fresh ideas and new ways to get people where they’re going while mitigating the impact on the planet that topped this year’s list of winners.
