BYD’s Seal is the Japan EV of the Year 2024, giving the Chinese brand its second consecutive title. The fight this time was said to be close among 15 candidates, of which only 4 were from Japanese manufacturers.
Public votes were invited from EVsmart Blog’s readers from December 9, 2024 to January 31, 2025. In addition, there was also an ‘Evangelist’ vote among EVsmart blog writers, EV-related company representatives, and key EV owners.
The BYD Seal won with 195 points, while Honda’s N-VAN e: was second with 182 points, and the Hyundai IONIQ 5 N came in third with 176 points. Hyundai also won the Excellence Award for the third consecutive year, following the first time with the IONIQ 5 and with the KONA last year.
There are many Car of the Year (COTY) awards run by various organisations in different countries, with the first having been the European Car of the Year which began way back in 1964. Over the past 10 years, with the arrival of electric vehicles into the market, COTY organisers have added an EV-related category to their list of awards.
In Japan, there is now a Japan EV of the Year event organised by EVsmart Blog and ENECHANGE Co., Ltd. As with the Japan Car of the Year (actually there are two such events), the aim of the award is ‘to select and honour one vehicle that is widely desired by many users’ sold in the market over a period of 12 months.
Prior to the inaugural Japan EV of the Year 2023 (which was announced in 2024), the two parties had a ‘Grand Prix’ in which a group of EV enthusiasts as well as the members of the public voted online, with the Nissan Sakura being the first winner of the award. Last year’s winner was the BYD Dolphin imported from China which is also eligible.