Award categories expanded to spotlight EV, charging infrastructure technology

Winners to receive exhibition space, conference slots, test-drive program support

[Provided by EV Awards]
[Provided by EV Awards]

The Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy announced Monday that submissions are now open for "EV Awards 2026," a domestic electric vehicle industry awards program co-organized with the Korea Battery Industry Association, Coex and the Korea Automobile Environment Association.

The EV Awards is a flagship program of EV Trend Korea, a Seoul-based trade exhibition dedicated to the electric vehicle industry. Since 2022, it has recognized outstanding technologies and products across the EV sector, including electric vehicles and charging infrastructure.

This year's edition expands the award categories with two new additions: a "startup" category within the charging infrastructure segment and a "Media Pick EV" category selected by a panel of automotive journalists. The new categories aim to highlight the technological capabilities and product competitiveness of charging startups while providing an objective assessment of top electric vehicles through expert automotive media evaluation.

Judging will combine expert evaluation with consumer voting. The "EV of the Year" and "Charging Infrastructure of the Year" — both carrying the Minister of Climate, Environment and Energy Award — will be determined by an 80 percent expert score and 20 percent consumer vote. The "Consumer Choice EV and Charging Infrastructure" award will be decided by consumer voting alone, while the "Judges' Selection" award will rely entirely on expert evaluation. The "Media Pick EV" will be chosen based 100 percent on assessments by journalists affiliated with the Korea Automotive Press Association.

Winners will receive a range of benefits, including exhibition space in a dedicated EV Awards special pavilion at the EV Trend Korea venue, recognition at the opening ceremony, a presentation slot at the "EV 360° Conference," participation in a test-drive program, media interviews, and promotion in the official brochure and on the event website.

Past EV Awards winners in the electric vehicle category have included domestic and international automakers such as Hyundai Motor Company, Kia, Polestar and Volvo. In the charging infrastructure segment, the program has recognized Korean charging companies including Chaevi, Moderntec, Water and Uplus IT.

Submissions will be accepted through July 29. The electric vehicle category is open to models launched or scheduled for launch in South Korea between August 2025 and July 2026, while the charging infrastructure category covers the most recently released products.


eyre@heraldcorp.com