Author here. I've added a note in the article in response to comments about C&D only considering new vehicles. Apologies for the oversight, and thanks to everyone pointing it out.
This article really should be rewritten. The Car of the Year award is for the best NEW vehicle introduced this year. Since no new vehicles were introduced by Tesla, they could not be considered. The article as written is seriously misleading and wrong.
If you read the article you would see that Tesla vehicles was not included because they only include either new or significantly redesigned models. This makes Tesla intelligible for the award.
Gee, I was wonder why not a single Tesla model was ever a candidate despite having the best selling EVs in the world. Could it be because Tesla doesn't advertise in Car & Driver or any other digital/analog publication for that matter?
Car and Driver has recognised the Hyundai Ioniq 6 electric sedan as its 2023 EV of the year, with much of the credit for the win supposedly going to its unorthodox looks. The victory marks a winning streak for Hyundai's Ioniq line-up, with the Ioniq 5 taking home the same award for 2022. Despite this win, the looks of the Ioniq 6 still seem rather polarising.