Green Car Summit

 

On Monday, February 2nd, the Washington Auto Show (WAS) and the Green Car Journal will host the Green Car Summit: Defining the Road Ahead.  Held at the Capitol in the Rayburn Building, the Green Car Summit brings together automakers and industry organizations to discuss priority environmental issues, challenges and technology. “Vehicles offering dramatically improved environmental performance are crucial to helping us move beyond today’s challenges of oil dependence and growing environmental impacts,” says Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of the Green Car Journal and editor of GreenCar.com. “While not yet widely available in new car showrooms, these vehicles each inspire in important ways with their advanced power trains, use of cleaner or more sustainable fuels, vastly improved efficiencies, or a combination of these attributes.” The award-winning Green Car Journal has focused on the intersection of automobiles, energy, and environment since its launch in 1992. As part of its mission, the magazine hosts events, produces ride-and-drives of advanced and clean fuel vehicles, and conducts various outreach efforts to educate consumers on better and more environmentally positive vehicle choices. 
 

The heart of the WAS will be the Green Car Pavilion, a showcase of the industry’s newest and most-innovative hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles, including hybrid race cars and new battery-powered technology that enables vehicles to reach up to 100 mph.
 

“The show’s theme this year is “Driven by the Environment,” reflecting a priority issue for our industry. We expect the Green Car Pavilion to be a great draw, given the urgency of environmental concerns, “explains Kevin Reilly, Alexandria Hyundai, one of the Preview Reception co-chairs.   “For our Preview audience, the Pavilion will be the first stop!”

‘Green Car Journal’s 2009 Green Car Vision Award^’, which acknowledges a vehicle that best envisions the road ahead is another event that will capture attention at the WAS. One of the five finalists – the Chevrolet Volt, Fisker Karma, Honda FCX Clarity, MINI E, or Mitsubishi i-MiEV – will be honored as the 2009 Green Car Vision Award winner during a press conference on Public Policy Day February 3, at The Washington Auto Show in Washington D.C. Dispelling the myth that innovation will only come from outside the traditional automotive industry, four of the 2009 Green Car Vision Award^™ finalists are products from major auto manufacturers. The fifth is from a new car company, Fisker Automotive, headed by Henrik Fisker, formerly director of Ford’s Global Advanced Design Studio and before that president of BMW division DesignWorks USA.
 

Chevrolet’s Volt is a range-extended, plug-in electric car with a scheduled introduction in late 2010. The Fisker Karma, to be shown in production form next month, is a plug-in hybrid luxury sedan that’s set for sale later this year. The FCX Clarity, Honda’s innovative hydrogen fuel cell sedan, is in very limited production and being leased to a small number of consumers now. The recently unveiled battery electric MINI E will be leased to 500 select consumers in three states. Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric cars are on the highway in a demonstration program with Southern California Edison and PG&E.    

 

“The advanced technology vehicles now available at new car showrooms, like highly efficient gasoline-electric hybrids, are the result of visionary work that occurred years in advance of their introduction to the market,” says Cogan. “It’s important to recognize the achievement – the vision – embodied in the cars on their way to market that are destined to shape the future of transportation in the short years ahead. The five nominees for Green Car Journal’s 2009 Green Car Vision Award^™ are exceptional examples of innovation at work.”

 

The 67th staging of the Washington Auto Show: The Automotive Seat of Power will bring more than 700 new cars, trucks, mini-vans and sport utility vehicles from over 42 domestic and import automakers to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center from Feb. 4 – 8, 2009. Supporting its growing ‘green’ theme, a wide array of advanced technology and clean fuel vehicles will be displayed in a Green Car Pavilion and throughout the show floor. For more information visit the Washington Auto Show online at www.washingtonautoshow.com.

 

For a full schedule of entertainment and special events, operating hours, ticket information and “e-tickets,” visit The Washington Auto Show online at www.washingtonautoshow.com or contact WANADA at 1-866-WASH-AUTO or 202.237.7200.