Autoweek.com Names First Vanguard Best Of Year Award Winners

DETROIT, MI October 4, 2023; Now an All Digital Publication, Hearst Publishing's Autoweek web site today unveiled its inaugural Vanguard Award winners, which recognize the companies, vehicles, people, and technology focused on risk-taking today for reward tomorrow. Not only have these honorees consistently moved the automotive industry forward, all are leading the charge into the future by developing new innovations, technologies and practices that will become new benchmarks. The full feature is available now on the Autoweek website

To select this inaugural class of Vanguard Award winners, Neff and the Autoweek editorial team spent months diving deeply into all corners of the auto industry; from suppliers to OEMs, from motorsports to engineering firms; to find the true standouts. After a round of nominations and several lively discussions, they determined the winners.

The 2023 Autoweek Vanguard Award winners are:

Company: Hyundai Motor Company
Hyundai Motor Company's unwavering commitment to the future of carbon-free mobility and a goal of carbon-neutral cradle-to-grave vehicle lifecycle, has earned it a Vanguard Award. While it continues to turn out award-winning EVs, Hyundai Motor Company is also devoting tremendous energy to continue to develop “clean hydrogen, using solar and wind energy to produce hydrogen without need of fossil fuels as fuel for its advanced fuel-cell. All of this is part of the company's corporate goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2045.

Vehicle: Rivian R1 Dual-Motor
Rivian's launch of the dual-motor R1 begins the automaker's march down into the more accessible reaches of the market, a move to be followed by the addition of LFP batteries to its lineup. Fun-to-drive both on and off road, with plenty of capability to satisfy veteran truck owners while offering all the cool EV-specific features for tech fans to nerd out on, the R1 Dual-Motor checks almost every box. And though while not exactly entry-level EV—the company promises it will get closer to that segment with the R2 platform the R1 Dual-Motor nonetheless is testament to the company's ongoing commitment to developing vehicles that increase the number of buyers in the EV space. This makes the recognition of the R1 Dual-Motor as much a commendation of the vehicle itself as symbol of the ethos embodied by Rivian and its overall success to date where so many others have failed.

Person: Alejandro Agag (Formula E)
Alejandro Agag is the co-founder and CEO of Formula E only the second racing series to hold World Championship status under the FIA next to Formula 1 and is the founder and CEO of Extreme E, an electric off-road racing series, which will soon transition to Extreme H, set to launch in 2025. His commitment to the decarbonization of racing is sincere, steadfast and effective. Since the establishment of Formula E more than a decade ago, Agag has been working to broaden the footprint and influence of electric- and environmentally sensitive racing formats. To add to his cred, he is set to launch early in 2024 a brand-new electric series called E1, an electric boat racing series.

Technology: Our Next Energy (ONE)
Our Next Energy (ONE) is the brainchild of battery systems engineer Mujeeb Ijaz, who developed his expertise at Ford, Apple, and A123 Systems. ONE is pushing the boundaries by developing durable, long-range lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, built with abundant raw materials (iron and manganese) and requiring no cobalt and smaller amounts of nickel, lithium, and graphite. ONE is already producing LFP and anode-free battery cells at a massive new facility in Van Buren Township, MI, primarily for commercial trucks and stationary applications to power the grid. But the company's next step, with its dual-chemistry Gemini battery, allows the LFP cells in mainstream passenger vehicles to deliver an initial 150 miles of range, and then the anode-free cells to tack on another 450 miles effectively doubling the range of most EVs on the road today. It's only a matter of time before this smart, sustainable technology finds its way to high-volume EVs. BMW already has a development agreement with ONE.

More information about the inaugural Vanguard Award winners is available on the Autoweek website

About Autoweek Web Site
Covering all aspects of car culture from reviews and drives to motorsports and auto shows, Autoweek dives deep into the kinds of technologies being developed in engineering labs and on racetracks as well as who is doing the developing, and how all that development adds up to the cars and trucks we will be driving and that will be driving us. Ultimately, Autoweek strives to better understand how the auto industry will increasingly keep us safe, use fewer resources, serve all drivers, and be kinder to our planet.

About Hearst Autos
The brands at Hearst Autos include Autoweek, Bring a Trailer, Car and Driver and Road & Track.