{"id":770,"date":"2011-02-21T06:14:14","date_gmt":"2011-02-20T20:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.privatefleet.com.au\/?p=770"},"modified":"2020-06-20T01:58:09","modified_gmt":"2020-06-19T15:58:09","slug":"green-cars-steal-the-show-in-washington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.privatefleet.com.au\/blog\/home\/green-cars-steal-the-show-in-washington\/","title":{"rendered":"Green Cars Steal the Show in Washington"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Washington Auto Show ran from January 28 to February 6, and showcased (as usual) a range of exciting new cars, both the wild, wacky and innovative concept cars, and the more down-to-earth production cars that were unveiled for the first time.\u00a0 And down to earth is the word, as many of the feature cars were \u201cgreen\u201d.\u00a0 Green seemed to be the focus of the show, especially after President Barack Obama announced a vision in his State of the Union Address to the House of Representatives for making the USA the first country to have over a million electric cars on the road by 2015 (he may mean hybrid cars rather than pure electric cars, but those count!).<\/p>\n

The real show-stopper in this respect was the \u201cworld\u2019s fastest electric car\u201d. This was the Venturi Buckeye Bullet, built at the Ohio State University. This car isn\u2019t exactly scheduled for imminent release on the roads as a production vehicle, but it is capable of getting up to 307.7 miles per hour (on those salt flats in Utah where all the land speed records tend to get set) thanks to a 600 kilowatt electric engine.<\/p>\n

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However, not all the green cars were concept cars striving to prove that electric vehicles are capable of matching the oomph of petrol vehicles. One new production car that was launched at the Washington Auto Show 2011 was the hybrid Dodge Ram ute put out by Chrysler. This hybrid ute combines a 5.7 litre V8 engine with a potent electrical motor with a 20 mile range. A test fleet of 140 vehicles is due to hit the roads in the USA thanks to a government grant. However, the car that scooped the Green Car Vision Award was the Ford Focus Electric, which is an all-electric car rather than a hybrid. This vehicle is due for general release in the USA in late 2011, and with any luck, we\u2019ll get it over here in Australia.<\/p>\n

The \u201c\u201d was the section of the show that showcased the environmentally friendly cars and technology, and exhibitors in this section included BMW, Chrysler, Honda (with the CR-Z hybrid and a range of other hybrids), Fiat, Mazda (with the RX-8 Hydrogen RE), Nissan and a host of other well-known names and some lesser-known ones who are part of developing new technologies in the area of sustainable fuels and petrol-saving technologies.<\/p>\n

According to The Atlantic<\/em> news service, the coolest green cars (electrics, hybrids and otherwise) on display at the Washington Auto Show 2011 were:<\/p>\n