Surrey have paid tribute to the Club’s main sponsor, Kia, after its new electric vehicle the Kia EV6 was awarded the prestigious ‘Car of the Year’ this week.
The award was handed out at the ‘What Car’ Awards earlier this week – and is the latest in a long list of accolades for Kia’s first ever dedicated electric vehicle. It also marks only the second time that an electric vehicle has won the What Car ‘Car of the Year’ award. The first was also a Kia, the Kia E-Niro EV in 2019.
The EV6 is Kia’s first dedicated battery electric vehicle and demonstrates the exciting potential of the company’s new Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP), with six further dedicated electric models to follow the EV6 to market by 2026. Kia aims to fully electrify its vehicle line-up in Europe by 2035, with other key markets around the globe following by 2040.
As a fully electric vehicle, the award underpins Kia’s commitment to sustainability and demonstrates their work in continuing to evolve and improve the future motoring, with fully electric cars.
This echoes Surrey CCC and The Kia Oval’s commitment to sustainability, which is written throughout the Club and was rewarded the with ‘Sustainability in Sport’ award at last year’s Sport Business Awards.
“Our commercial partners play a really important role at the Club and it’s vital that we are aligned on core business values, such as sustainability”, said Surrey CCC Head of Sales, George Hampson.
“Sustainability is a vital component in everything we do at the Club, so to see our partner win an award for their game changing electric car is something we were all really pleased to see.
“For over a decade, Kia have been a vital partner of Surrey CCC. Their brand is now synonymous with our ground and the Club is grateful to have developed such a positive long term relationship with our main sponsor.”
“It’s a great honour for Kia to win ‘Car of the Year’ at this year’s What Car? Awards, and demonstrates once again how our strategic commitment to electrifying the Kia product range is truly paying off.
“The EV6 is an exceptional car, and demonstrates our unwavering focus in becoming a leading global provider of sustainable mobility solutions,” said Ho Sung Song, President and CEO at Kia Corporation.
“Our plan to electrify our range is gaining momentum and includes 11 new BEV models by 2026 as part of our Plan S strategy, where, in time, electric vehicles will make up the majority of our global sales.”
What Car
“The EV6 combines a huge real-world range with the ability to charge at speeds that no rival can keep up with, addressing two of the biggest concerns that people still have about electric cars.
“What’s more, by using bespoke electric underpinnings rather than a set that’s shared by petrol and diesel models, Kia has been able to take advantage of the compact size of electric motors and produce a car that’s hugely spacious and practical,” said Steve Huntingford, Editor of What Car? magazine.
“Add in effortless performance, outstanding refinement, competitive pricing and one of the best warranties around, and the striking EV6 doesn’t just look like the future – it feels like it too.”
Each year, the What Car? Car of the Year Awards names the best new cars across several vehicle categories. To be eligible for the awards, a car has to have been tested back-to-back with its rivals, on roads and at a dedicated test facility, by What Car?’s team of road testers. An overall ‘Car of the Year’ is then selected from the category winners.
Surrey CCC’s Commitment to Sustainability
- During the 2021 Test Match vs India, the Club unveiled plans to make The Kia Oval a carbon neutral venue, with the first stage of the work – to understand the carbon impact the ground currently has – already underway.
- Every drink bought at the ground is served in a reusable, recyclable glass. Disposable pint glasses have not been used since 2015.
- All other drinks are either served in cans or decanted into reusable glasses or carafes from glass bottles.
- Fourteen water fountains have been installed around the ground to allow fans to refill their own bottles.
- Fans are allowed to bring empty refillable coffee cups and water bottles into the ground, which will be filled by all vendors around the Kia Oval.
- All electricity at the Kia Oval is generated from renewable energy.
- All conferences and events at the ground are serviced by filtered water in reusable glass bottles that are then retained, washed and reused for future events.
- Where appropriate, all food is served in compostable packaging and the ground has installed a comprehensive compostable waste stream, solving a problem where food waste would spoil large parts of the Club’s dry mixed recycling.
- The Club has instigated a procurement strategy focused on ensuring vendors sell products that have fully recyclable or compostable packaging.
- Kitchens at the Kia Oval use an ‘Orca’ machine which processes food waste into a liquid that be disposed of using the regular drainage system.
- The shop at the Kia Oval offers recyclable paper bags rather than plastic bags.
- Plastic straws and sauce sachets have not been used at the ground since 2018.
- The Club always seeks to partner with likeminded organisations and charities to allow us to constantly improve and innovate.
