Jaguar I-Pace Named 2019 World Car Of The Year, Suzuki Jimny Wins Urban Car Of The Year Award

The 2019 World Car of the Year Awards was just concluded yesterday at the New York International Auto Show, and the title winner was none other than the Jaguar I-Pace electric crossover.

The I-Pace was chosen from an initial entry list of 40 vehicles from all over the world, from which a short list of three finalists were announced in Geneva last month - the Audi e-tron, the Jaguar I-Pace, and the Volvo S60/V60.  

The vehicles were selected and voted on by an international jury panel comprising 86 prominent automotive journalists from 24 countries around the world, who were appointed by the World Car Steering Committee on the basis of his or her expertise, experience, credibility, and influence. The international accounting firm KPMG tabulated the jurors’ ballots.

The I-Pace is powered by a 90kWh lithium-ion battery which delivers a range of up to 470 km. It’s capable of charging from 0-80% in just 40 minutes (100kW DC), or takes just over ten hours to achieve the same state of charge when using a domestic wallbox (7kW AC).

It comes with a suite of smart, range-optimising technologies such as the battery pre-conditioning system which automatically raises (or lowers) the temperature of the battery to maximise range ahead of driving away.

The I-Pace also earned a five-star Euro NCAP safety rating thanks to features like the deployable bonnet, autonomous emergency braking, and pedestrian and cyclist detection among others.

Besides the World Car of the Year award, the I-Pace also bagged the World Green Car, and the World Car Design of the Year titles for this year. This is the first time in the World Car Awards’ 15-year history where one-car has achieved a win across three categories.

In total, seven awards were given at the gala event including World Car of the Year, and the winners for this year are:

2019 World Car of the Year, World Green Car of the Year, World Car Design of the Year - Jaguar I-Pace

2019 World Urban Car - Suzuki Jimny

2019 World Luxury Car - Audi A7

2019 World Performance Car - McLaren 720S

2019 World Car Person of the Year - The late Sergio Marchionne