Design of the Year Awards - Volkswagen's 313 mpg super-efficient car

The Design of the Year Awards winner was Volkswagen's new XL1 super-efficient car which 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.

For comparison, a VW Polo 1.2 TDI BlueMotion, which is considered a green super-mini, does a comparatively wasteful 74.3mpg.

The story is somewhat blighted by the fact that the XL1 has been effectively banned from the US because it's too efficient! If that's true, then it's pretty scandalous.