Kia has been named ‘Best Manufacturer’ at the TopGear.com EV Awards 2026.

Now in its seventh year, the annual awards recognise the best EVs on sale in the UK today, and celebrate the manufacturers who are leading the charge. Kia’s win follows recent success in the annual BBC TopGear.com awards, where PV5 Passenger was named ‘Family Car of the Year’.

Ollie Kew, Deputy Editor, TopGear.com: "Whether you’re in an EV3 or the enormous EV9, the sleek EV6 or the boxy PV5, there’s a familiar sortedness running through the e-Kias like the proverbial stick of rock. Reliable range, unfussy performance, pleasing comfort... and the confidence to bookend its EV ranks with an entry-level EV2 alongside an £83,000, 500bhp super SUV in the shape of the EV9 GT.”

Paul Philpott, President and CEO, Kia UK: “We’re honoured to have been named Top Gear’s Best Manufacturer for 2026. This recognition follows a busy year for the Kia brand, with the launch of eight new products in 2025, including EV4, EV5 and PV5. This recognition reflects the strength and breadth of our electric line?up, and our commitment to delivering innovative, desirable and accessible EVs for our customers.”

Kia’s EV journey commenced in 2014 when the first-generation Soul EV went on sale, and the brand finished its first full year of EV sales with 149 registrations. At the end of 2025, Kia had registered more than 94,500 fully-electric vehicles in the UK, with a diverse electric line-up comprising EV3, EV4, EV5, EV6, EV9 and PV5.

The Kia EV2 is the brand’s next step in its ‘Plan S’ strategy – which started with the EV6 in 2021. Kia’s most compact and affordable EV to-date, the EV2 has been designed, engineered and manufactured in Europe, exclusively for Europe, and combines a variety of premium, segment-above technology into a petite, yet bold and boxy body shape.

First examples of the Kia EV2 will be arriving later in 2026, along with high-performance ‘GT’ variants of the EV3, EV4 and EV5.