The three winners of the 2024 AJAC Innovation Awards, presented by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC), were announced during the opening ceremonies of Elevate, the Vancouver Auto Show.

The BMW 5th-Generation Electric Drive System is the winner of this year’s AJAC Best Green Innovation award. On sale in electrified models including the brand-new i5 and 5 Series PHEV, the Gen-5 electric drive system eliminates rare earths from the electric motors and enables many components to be repaired or replaced, reducing service costs.

The Volvo EX90 Safety Suite received the award for Best Safety Innovation. Volvo’s long tradition of safety innovation continues in the new EX90 electric SUV, where a high-resolution LiDAR sensor enhances the reliability and performance—including in low light conditions—of the Pilot Assist driver-assistance functions.

The Range Rover Sport SV 6D Dynamics Suspension has been voted Best Technical Innovation. It’s the second straight year that Range Rover has won this award. This year’s winner is an interlinked suspension system that replaces anti-roll bars to improve the 2024 Range Rover Sport SV’s handling, ride comfort and off-road ability.

“AJAC is proud to recognize this year’s best new technologies in our Innovation Awards,” said Awards Chair, Graham Heeps. “Electrification, automation and safety are at the forefront of people’s minds when it comes to future automotive technology, and the judging panel was impressed by the reduced environmental impact of BMW’s electric drive system and by the way that Volvo’s latest Safety Suite reduces the frequency and severity of crashes even further. But Range Rover’s clever suspension system shows that there are still many other ways to improve the vehicles we drive, whatever the powertrain.”