2025 AJAC Innovation Award winners announced by Automobile Journalists Association of Canada

VANCOUVER, BC, March 19, 2025 /CNW/ - March 19, 2025 – The three winners of the 2025 AJAC Innovation Awards, presented by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC), were announced today during the opening ceremonies of Elevate, the Vancouver Auto Show.

The Lucid Air Pure electric powertrain is the winner of this year's AJAC Best Green Innovation award. Lucid has developed its own powertrain technology to better integrate elements like the motor and battery, creating the most efficient EV on sale in Canada. Efficient powertrains enable lighter vehicles and greater range from a given amount of energy, while still delivering the performance that buyers expect.

The winner of AJAC's Best Safety Innovation award for 2025 is BMW Digital Key Plus. Its use of ultra-wideband (UWB) technology offers an innovative way to combat car theft. The two-way communication between the vehicle and the 'key' in the phone prevents the 'relay' attacks that have become commonplace, whereby a criminal capture signals from keys in a house and rebroadcasts them to steal the car.

AJAC's 2025 Best Technical Innovation award goes to the Mazda Large Platform MHEV (mild-hybrid) Powertrains, which underpin the brand's latest pair of crossover SUVs: CX-70 and CX-90. Mazda's combination of turbocharged inline-six-cylinder engines, 48-volt mild-hybrid system and newly designed 8-speed transmission boosts efficiency, improves acceleration from rest, sharpens the driving dynamics and enlarges the front crush zone.

"AJAC is excited to recognize this year's best new technologies in our Innovation Awards," said Awards Chair, Graham Heeps. "Safety, efficiency and electrification are front-of-mind for Canadian vehicle buyers. With BMW Digital Key Plus, the judging panel was impressed by an innovative answer to a safety issue that his hit national headlines. The jury also noted that fresh thinking can lead to efficiency improvements that benefit consumers, whether in the form of Lucid's EV technology or Mazda's Large Platform MHEV Powertrains"

About the AJAC Innovation Awards

The AJAC Innovation Awards are awarded annually to the best automotive innovations in three categories: Best Green Innovation, Best Safety Innovation and Best Technical Innovation.

The Innovation Awards are conducted by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC), a professional association that connects Canada's best auto journalists and provides consumers with unbiased car buying advice. An expert voting panel of AJAC journalists assesses nominations and compiles a shortlist of finalists, which are then presented in detail to the judges. The jury votes for the new technologies they determine to be the year's best.

Innovations are assessed according to their consumer benefit and appeal, originality, cost, and likely impact on the market (new technologies often start out in high-end models before becoming available in more affordable vehicles).

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About Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC)

The Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) is an association of professional journalists, writers, photographers, videographers and corporate members whose focus is the automobile and the Canadian automotive industry. Collectively, its primary objectives are to promote, encourage, support, and facilitate professionalism in Canadian automotive journalism and to ensure factual and ethical reporting about the automobile and automotive issues to Canadian consumers. This is achieved through the work of its members and AJAC's annual vehicle testing and evaluation events, the Canadian Car of the Year Awards (CCOTY), Innovation Awards, and EcoRun.

SOURCE Automobile Journalists Association of Canada

For further information: Graham Heeps, Innovation Awards Chair, [email protected]; Evan Williams, AJAC President, 902-401-1784, [email protected]; Cindy Hawryluk, AJAC Operations & Events Manager, 905-978-7239, [email protected]