Best Electric Vehicle Of 2022 Is Tesla Model Y, Cars.com Concludes
Cars.com has named the Tesla Model Y the Best Electric Vehicle of 2022 winner in its “Best of 2022” awards program. The car-buying marketplace stated, “As more automakers bet on an electric future, consumers are starting to pay attention to the once-outlying rogue tech of automotive.”
Expanding on that, executive editor and head of EV insights for Cars.com Joe Wiesenfelder touched upon the quality and quantity of competitive vehicles entering the EV space and how Tesla is innovating.
“As EVs rapidly move from a fringe movement to the mainstream, this is the perfect award to kick off our Best of 2022 awards week. The quality and quantity of competitive vehicles poised to enter the EV space warrants expert scrutiny and independent comparison, and that’s what we do best at Cars.com.
“Tesla is an electric car innovator, and the Model Y reflects that leadership with its efficiency, charging capability, range, and options. It checks a lot of boxes for consumers who have been considering making the jump to an EV.”
Wuesebfekder also added his thoughts on the broader car market and where EVs fit within it:
“For the time being, all vehicle sales will continue to lag until supply can keep up with demand, but EVs will remain a smaller percentage of the market until we address consumers’ valid concerns about infrastructure, cost, and range.
“Cars.com’s commitment to ongoing EV education will be critical, as will focused investments at the government and manufacturer level.”
Cars.com added that almost 60% of consumers aren’t aware of EV charging stations in their communities and that the Biden administration has promised a $5 billion investment for distributing EV charging stations across the nation over the next five years.
Why Cars.Com Picked Tesla Model Y For Best Electric Vehicle of 2022
Cars.com noted that its experts chose the Best Electric Vehicle of 2022 winner based on several categories: drivability, charging speed, versatility, and overall excellence. Notably, several new EV models, including the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, Lucid Air, and Rivian R1T were not available for this year’s Best of 2022 voting. However, any of these could win next year’s award.
According to Cars.com, the Tesla Model Y has better-than-market efficiency, which eases consumer range anxiety. Its EPA-rated 326 miles between charges for the Long Range AWD version helps drivers who are concerned about range. It can travel further while requiring less time and power for home charging.
Another key benefit is the over-the air-updates that “outstrip the mere potential of other models that can be upgraded after delivery.” Cars.com added that the Model Y is built to evolve. It also added that it has the roominess of a mainstream SUV and its towing capacity of up to 3,500 pounds enables the vehicle to be ready to respond to any driver’s daily demands without sacrificing performance.
Cars.com added:
“Of those available, we choose the Tesla Model Y as our Best Electric Vehicle of 2022. The Model Y excels at being a consumer-friendly EV in addition to being a roomy SUV with towing for up to 3,500 pounds. It’s one of the most effective at easing range anxiety through a surplus of range — an EPA-rated 326 miles for the Long Range All-Wheel Drive version — plus actionable information about efficiency to inform drivers how to maximize the remaining range. Tesla’s network of Supercharger DC fast chargers is also larger and has been more reliable — and more reliably fast — than others in our experience.
“We’ve praised some newer EVs for matching what Tesla has been doing for years plus selling in all 50 states, a requirement we dismissed for this new Cars.com EV award. Even though some states don’t allow direct-to-consumer sales, it’s not stopping Tesla buyers, and we suspect it won’t stop similar EV brands, which might be eligible for this award in coming years. Tesla sold about as many Model Ys as Subaru Foresters in the first nine months of 2021 — 130,000 vehicles — ushering EV adoption faster than any other model. Most newcomer EVs have the technical capacity for over-the-air updates and plenty that demands immediate revision, but we’ve yet to see anything close to Tesla’s track record of using the capability to improve and evolve the products. Truth be told, they’re all just playing catch-up to Tesla. That’s just one more reason the Model Y is Cars.com’s Best Electric Vehicle of 2022.”
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