Automakers arrived at the Washington Auto Show with the introduction of the latest in energy efficient cars beginning with the announcement of the inaugural Green Car Technology Award presented to the Mazda Skyactiv. Green Car Journal noted that “The idea behind the Green Car Technology Award is to highlight various components and technologies that help reduce fuel use and greenhouse-gas emissions, not specific vehicle models.”

In news coverage of the auto show, the Washington Post cites industry data of new hybrid cars sold in the Washington area at 4.53 percent of new car sales, higher than the national average of 3.64 percent with an approximate 1,000 plug-in electric and plug-in hybrids sold in 2012, up from about 600 in 2011.

The auto show also included policy discussions with a keynote address by Energy Secretary Steven Chu and the announcement of the Workplace Charging Challenge to encourage employers to install charging stations.

Again, the Washington area is a leader. In the fall of 2012 the National Institutes of Health Federal Credit Union (NIHFCU) launched an electric vehicle pilot program with the installation of eight (8) charging stations at parking garages at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) campus in Bethesda, Maryland. NIHFCU, the nation’s largest credit union serving the health care and biomedical industries with 44,000 members, is underwriting the cost of offering the charging stations free of charge to NIH employees. "The NIHFCU is delighted to support the National Institutes of Health and its commitment to healthy living and environmental causes," said Juli Anne Callis, NIHFCU President and CEO. "By helping to provide NIH commuters with a convenient means of charging their electric cars during the day, the credit union is pleased to give back to health care and biomedical professionals by simplifying their busy lives while improving energy conservation."

The Auto show ended Sunday, Feb. 10.