BMW i3 (94Ah) was crowned the inaugural 2017 World Urban Car Award at the New York International Show. This year’s winner was chosen from an initial entry list of seven cars from all over the world, out of which three had been shortlisted in Geneva last month – BMW i3 (94 Ah), Citroen C3 and Suzuki Ignis. Vehicles in all award categories are selected and voted on by an international jury panel comprised of 75 top‐level automotive journalists from 23 countries around the world. 2017 marks the first year for the World Urban Car award. This year also marks the 11th anniversary of the partnership between World Car and the New York auto show.
“We are delighted and honoured that the BMW i3 has been recognised as the World Urban Car,” Ludwig Willisch, head of BMW group region Americas, said in a statement. “The design brief for the BMW i3 was to create a mega city vehicle for the cities of the future. Today, the new 2017 BMW i3 (94 Ah) provides more range paired with a high-level of dynamic performance, making it the perfect urban vehicle for people around the world,” he said.
BMW manufactures two electrics, namely the i3 and i8. The i3 comes with a 33 kWh high-voltage lithium-ion battery pack, and has 170 hp and 250 Nm of torque available. Suzuki Ignis, which Maruti brought to India in January, is powered by a 1.2-litre petrol and 1.3-litre diesel engines, at prices starting at Rs 4.59 lakh. The third finalist, Citroen C3, is a popular small car in the European markets. It is powered by a 1.2-litre petrol engine that makes 110 hp and 205 Nm torque.
Also read: Maruti Suzuki Ignis Review: Unconventional, funky but should you buy it?
It is worth a notice that an electric powered car beat the other two that are powered by traditional engines. While the electric car is still far from being a popular mode of transportation the world over, mostly owing to infrastructural issues, the relevance of it is being understood for city usage.
