2 EVs win MotorTrend honors

MotorTrend's 2022 Car of the Year and Truck of the Year awards both went to electric vehicles made by startups.

The magazine chose the Lucid Air as the year's best car in November and the Rivian R1T as top truck last month. Its third award, SUV of the Year, went to a gasoline-powered vehicle from an established automaker, the Genesis GV70.

Rivian beat out another electric pickup, the GMC Hummer EV, for the coveted truck award, which Ram won in each of the past three years. It's the first time since 2008 that one of the Detroit 3 didn't win.

"The Rivian R1T would win praise if it were merely a credible pickup truck that is also an electric vehicle, but it's far more," the magazine wrote. "Not content to simply mount an electric motor or two under the hood or box of a traditional pickup, Rivian used the opportunity to reexamine what a modern pickup truck could be."

The R1T is the first EV to be Truck of the Year. Car of the Year went to the Tesla Model S in 2013 and the Chevrolet Bolt EV in 2017.

The R1T and Air also are among the nine finalists for the North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year awards, which will be announced next week.