VW’s victorious van of the future

“An environmentally compatible model that also meets the vehicle-utility requirements of the 21st century” was the jury’s reasoning for honouring the Volkswagen (VW) BUDD-e at the North American Concept Vehicle of the Year Awards in Plymouth, Michigan.

“Honoured for its forward-looking overall concept, this additional award for the model proves, once again, that Volkswagen is on the right track with its next generation of electrically powered vehicles,” the company has said.

The BUDD-e has received several awards over the last few months. Aside from winning its category in the Automotive Brand Contest for outstanding product design, and receiving the Plus X Award seal of approval for Innovation & Design, this VW van of the future also captured two other awards in the United States, one of them for Best Innovation from the online technology magazine Engadget.

The concept vehicle’s innovative and forward-looking interior also won the award for Interior Design of the Year – Concept Vehicle, at the Automotive Interiors Expo 2016 in Stuttgart, Germany.

VW presented BUDD-e as “a cutting-edge concept vehicle in line with the philosophy that if you want to be ahead of the times, you have to adopt new approaches”, at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. BUDD-e features an all-electric drive system, with a range of up to 533 km, as well as a new type of operation system, information via voice, touch and gesture control and large displays.