VW's XL1 fuel-efficient hybrid car, has been named a winner in the annual Designs of the Year Awards

The Volkswagen XL1, the world’s most fuel-efficient hybrid car, has been named the winner of the Transport category in the annual Designs of the Year Awards. The car is one of 76 designs in seven categories which are on display at the Design Museum in London until 25 August.

The innovative XL1 will now go on to compete for the Design of the Year 2014 award against the winners of the other categories – Architecture, Digital, Fashion, Furniture, Graphic, Product – with the overall winner announced at an event on 30 June.

Now in its seventh year, the Designs of the Year exhibition gathers together cutting-edge innovation and original talent, showcasing the very best in global design. 

Commenting on the category winners, Curator of Designs of the Year Gemma Curtin said: ‘From the daringly innovative to the reassuringly good, Designs of the Year 2014 is a condensed and vivid selection of the last twelve months in design. This spectrum of expert-chosen design is an insight into what design can do for us both as individuals and as a society.’

Penned by a team led by Klaus Bischoff, Head of Design for the Volkswagen brand, the XL1 is a limited series production two-seater car that explores the limits of energy efficiency for a road-legal production vehicle.  It was nominated for the exhibition by author and automotive design and technology expert, Andrew Nahum.  

The design brief for the XL1 was to produce a ‘one litre’ car – that is to say, a car that uses one litre of fuel per 100 km, equivalent to 282 miles per gallon. The resulting vehicle uses just 0.9 litres per 100 km, or 313 mpg, and this high mpg figure correlates to a very low carbon dioxide emissions value of just 21 g/km.  

Nick Perry from supporters of Designs of the Year, international law firm, Bird & Bird, said: ‘We are thrilled to have been involved in supporting Designs of the Year, each of these category winners has demonstrated exceptional insight and skill and we look forward to seeing further designs from them in the future. Working with clients whose focus is on technology, or whose businesses are being transformed by the use of technology means we know that there is a huge amount to be gained from innovation and design. Designs of the Year is invaluable in supporting the next generation of innovation, as we have seen demonstrated, and continues the rich heritage of design for which the UK is known.’

Members of the public can also have their say on Designs of the Year in the Visitor Vote, which allows visitors to the Design Museum to pick their favourite design from the exhibition. New for 2014 is the Social Vote which sees two nominations fight it out each day through the exhibition’s online Social Vote platform. Broadcast to over one million of the Design Museum’s Twitter and Facebook followers, the Social Vote allows people from all over the world to participate in Designs of the Year.