This is the Progressive Automotive X $2.5 million prize winner in the "Alternative Side-by-Side" class. The all-electric vehicle is from Li-Ion Motors of Mooresville, N.C. Photo by: Arch Scurlock

The Washington Convention Center recently hosted the 69^th Washington Auto Show, featuring displays of more than 700 new vehicles from more than 32 domestic and import manufacturers. With the federal government being an increasing factor for change in the automobile industry, the show had more green cars and technologies on display than any other auto show in the U.S., offering a look at the possible future of personal transportation. Included was a large area entitled the “Advanced Technology Superhighway,” with displays featuring sustainability and automotive safety.

The Wednesday before the formal show, a Green Car Summit panel gathered on Capitol Hill to discuss means for attaining higher vehicle fuel efficiency and energy diversity and security.

Public Policy Day was held the following day with presentations by major manufacturers including Mazda, Ford, Toyota, VW and BMW and by various parties in the advanced technology area, which included a brief visit by the new Washington, D.C. mayor, Vincent Gray.

During its presentation, Volkswagen of America, now headquartered in Herndon, discussed its support through partnerships of various Virginia and Washington, D.C.-area schools. It made an initial commitment of $2.1 million to these schools to support automotive education and research, including Northern Virginia Community College, Fairfax County schools, George Mason University, the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech.

An Audi R8 Spyder. Photo by Arch Scurlock

Volkswagen’s commitment to  Northern Virginia Community College has included supplying training vehicles to its Alexandria and Manassas campuses, and a  representative from NOVA’s automotive programs was in attendance.

The Public Policy Day featured a keynote address given by General Motors, which had not presented at the show for several years due to financial problems and bankruptcy.   The address was originally scheduled to be given by the North American President of GM, Mark Reuss, but his flight from Detroit was canceled due to bad weather. The address was given instead by GM’s Vice President for Design Ed Welburn.

In the speech, GM repeated its four promises to the public: maintaining financial integrity, striving for environmentally-acceptable vehicles with high miles per gallon, developing leading-edge technology and putting the customer first. GM, known by some as “Government Motors” due to its $50 billion government bailout, announced that it had withdrawn its application for $14 billion in subsidized loans from the U.S. Department of Energy, as it said that it had the financial strength to develop more fuel-efficient and electric vehicles on its own.

In the past year, GM has raised its share of the U.S. automotive market from 16.8 percent to 17.7 percent while decreasing its brands from eight to four and restructuring its dealer network and labor contracts.

A Mercedes Benz Gullwing. Photo by: Arch Scurlock

In an earlier presentation, a Carnegie-Mellon University study concluded that diesel vehicles were often a better value than gasoline vehicles despite a higher price tag, due to lower operating costs including higher mileage and a higher resale value.

Public Policy Day concluded with a dinner at which legendary auto designer and racer Carroll Shelby, developer of the Shelby Cobra sports cars among other vehicles, was presented with the Automotive News Lifetime Achievement Award.

Among the 700 cars on display were present upcoming models from each manufacturer as well as concept cars often featuring new power sources.

Fiat was a new company on display. The Italian company will soon return to the U.S. with its new Fiat 500, to be sold at select Chrysler dealers, a company that Fiat now owns.

With the passage of time allowing development and finally production, also on display were one-time cars of the future, including the much awaited Chevrolet Volt, combining electric and gasoline power and the winner of numerous Car of the Year awards, with the second highest EPA mileage figures of any 2011 U.S. vehicle at 93 MPG/37 MPG  Electric/Gasoline.  Also on display was the recently introduced all electric plug-in vehicle, the Nissan Leaf, with the highest mileage figures at 106/92 city/highway.

There were also countless present and future hybrid vehicles on display, as well as displays on the various vehicle fuels, including bio-fuels, diesel and petroleum. There were also various engines, safety features under development, and natural gas, hydrogen fuel cell, hybrid and electric engines and motors and vehicles in the Super Technology area.

Photo by: Momin Haq

This area included the world’s fastest electric vehicle, the Venturi Buckeye Bullet, built by Ohio State University engineering students. The vehicle achieved an average speed of 307.7 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats. It utilized lithium-ion batteries in a pack of 1,500 cells that can deliver 600 kilowatts of immediate power.

Though the contest involving continual touching of various Toyota cars has gracefully disappeared, there were numerous other contests and special guests during the show, including Snooki from TV’s Jersey Shore. Amarfis & La Banda de Attake played Latin beats on the first night of the opening to the public, various Redskins players, including Darrell Green, were present, as were the Washington Redskins cheerleaders and WWE superstar Randy Orton. For children’s entertainment, the Playland mascots were present along with Max the Magician and 9-foot-tall Rock-It the Robot, dancing to hundreds of songs, though not all at once.

By: Arch Scurlock

Stay updated by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter.