VAB Family Car of the Year: EVs out of grace?

There are no longer any fully electric winners in VAB’s ‘Family Car of the Year’ election this year. The gold medal goes to a hybrid (HEV) from the Chinese brand that sells the most EVs in Europe: the MG3. The other gold winner in the more expensive category is a mild-hybrid Hyundai i30.

It perfectly illustrates a ‘self-fulfilling prophecy,’ where (European) carmakers feed the general public’s anti-EV feelings by pushing their more profitable ICE again under the cloak of “giving what the consumer asks.” And the Flemish mobility organization VAB now plays a part in this.

Gold for a 1.5 liter HEV

The first thanks its victory to its price-quality ratio, an HEV with a 1.5 gasoline engine (105 hp), helped by an electromotor of 136 hp, offering lots of driving fun and a perfect finishing according to both juries. The MG3 gives the Dacia Duster on LPG and the mid-hybrid 1.2 liter Suzuki Swift go-by.

The Hyundai i30 beats the Skoda Octavia in the category up to €40,000 in a very close draw of one point. Third is another Chinese car brand known for its excellent EV offer, but this year, it is competing with a plug-in hybrid version of its EV, the BYD Seal U.

No EV made the podium

The real electric ones didn’t make the podium. The Kia EV3 achieved a narrow podium place, though, with the professional jury and the Smart #3 with the family jury.

According to VAB, “the fairly high cost per kilometer – the expensive energy cost is playing tricks on EVs – ultimately ensured that there is not a single full EV in the top five.”

The question is how VAB calculated the kilometer price using mostly the highest tariffs as a reference, as Belgium is a country that manya lot of taxes in its electricity price.

Well-considered decision?

VAB says it took a well–considered decision to create a separate category for electric cars no longer but list them among those with combustion engines, with the purchase price (up to €25,000 or €40,000) as the only determining factor.

It has consequences; VAB admits promptly as only three fully electric cars were listed this year for the election: the new Kia EV3, the Smart #3, and the Maxus E Uniq 6.

The Belgian car importers/manufacturers decide what model they enlist for the yearly election. A professional jury and a jury of VAB family members each test the contending cars, adding up the totals to determine the winners.

And guess what? Most EVs offered today in Europe are initially still more expensive in purchase price than their ICE siblings, and few to no EVs were enlisted.

Perfect self-fulfilling prophecy

It’s the perfect example of a self-fulfilling prophecy: giving in on the general feeling of the average man in the street that he can’t afford an EV and a ‘hybrid’ being a better solution as there are no worries about too little range.

Several surveys show these classic prejudices are heard everywhere. European carmakers emphasize them, happily embracing this as an excuse to keep pushing for ICE as long as possible.

They welcomely use “the general public’s preferences” to lobby within the EU to loosen the strict CO2 emission rules. They know most won’t be able to comply if they don’t sell enough fully electric zero-emission cars by 2026.

Those carmakers created the feeling of ‘too expensive EVs’ themselves, focusing first on premium – business clients – in their offerings, where more significant profit margins were hoped for.

Nevertheless, several ‘affordable EVs’ well under €40,000 are coming to the European market in 2026. Maybe VAB would have better postponed their decision by one year instead of giving it in an easy way, based on a general misperception, and artificially kept alive.