Korea Automobile Journalists Association selects EV3’s regenerative braking technology as top innovation of year
The Kia EV3 has won the Korea Car of the Year award for 2025, the Korea Automobile Journalist Association said Thursday.
According to the KAJA, the EV3 also earned two more awards -- electric vehicle of the year and innovation of the year. The car has a maximum driving range of 501 kilometers per charge and cutting-edge regenerative braking technology that allows acceleration, deceleration and stoppage of the vehicle with just the control of the acceleration pedal.
The EV3 received an overall score of 75.53 out of 100 points to beat out the Mercedes-Benz E-Class with 74.94 points and the BMW 5 Series with 74.27 points and take the top honor among the 15 vehicles on the ballot.
The KAJA, which consists of 59 media outlets and some 200 journalists as its members, conducted a driving test of each vehicle at the Korea Automobile Testing & Research Institute in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, on February 6.
The Mercedes-Benz E-Class won import vehicle of the year while the Renault Grand Koleos took home sport utility vehicle of the year. The Lexus LM 500h received utility car of the year and the Mini Countryman won design of the year. The Porsche Taycan scored performance of the year.
The KAJA held the awards ceremony Thursday evening on Sebitseom, an artificial island on the Han River, with journalists, government representatives and auto industry officials in attendance.
hwkan@heraldcorp.com
