Renault’s new Renault Kangoo ZE electric vehicle has been chosen by What Van? as its 2012 Van of the Year in the magazine’s annual awards.

“The Renault Kangoo ZE is a pioneering revelation that’s impressive not only for the technology under the skin but also for the normality of its on-road characteristics,” said What Van? Editor Paul Barker. “For operators in the right circumstances, it will be worthy of serious consideration, and coming at the price it has gives the technology every chance of moving towards the mainstream. The judges were unanimous in making the Kangoo ZE a deserving winner of our Van of the Year title.”

Renault also tasted success in the Website category, while Volkswagen collected three prizes including Best Pick-up for the Amarok. Ford’s Transit and the Iveco Daily were Medium and Large Van of the Year respectively, and the Vauxhall Corsavan and Fiat Doblo Cargo collected prizes in the Small and Light Van of the Year sectors.

Citroen won the Innovation and Van Conversion awards, Vauxhall’s second prize came in the form of the Green Award for its Ecoflex range, and Mercedes-Benz retained the Safety Award.

“It’s a pleasure to hand out these awards to such an impressive line-up of products and services, and congratulations to each of them,” continued Barker. “The progress made by the light commercial vehicle industry year after year is impressive and worthy of praise. It’s a shame we had to choose just one winner for each category when there were many others also worthy of recognition.”