The new Hyundai IONIQ has been hailed as Next Green Car’s Car of the Year 2016.

Next Green Car’s judges also awarded IONIQ Electric with the top spot in Small Family category, against the Renault Megane, Fiat Tipo and Volvo V40. The judges praised IONIQ’s capabilities as an all round family car, as well as its recognised eco credentials as a zero emission electric vehicle.

The Next Green Car judge’s explained the verdicts “It’s tough to find any weaknesses with the Hyundai IONIQ Electric. Plenty of range-stretching features help make the IONIQ Electric an easy EV to drive over long distances, while the company has also packed in plenty of performance, practicality, and value for money into the package.”

Tony Whitehorn, President and CEO Hyundai Motor UK, said “We are very pleased to receive both of these awards from Next Green Car. It is particularly satisfying to hear the judge’s verdicts commending IONIQ Electric for its all round abilities, as it underlines what we already know; that for our customers, the complete vehicle package is just as important as IONIQ’s zero emission performance.”

Hyundai’s IONIQ Hybrid and Electric went on sale at the end of October and since then almost 300 cars have been delivered. Both models will be joined in Hyundai showrooms by IONIQ Plug-in, which begins sales in Q2 2017. The IONIQ range is part of Hyundai Motor Group’s overall plan of launching 28 eco-friendly cars by 2020.