The city of Beijing has been generating the kinds of headlines that cities usually want no part of. Ahead of the Olympic games, many athletes have been publicly deriding the city's air quality, and rightly so. According to the World Health Organization, the current air pollution in Beijing is at least two to three times higher than levels deemed safe. City officials have been doing what they can with the limited resources and time that is available to them, but Detroit News writer John McCormick, on assignment covering the Beijing Motor Show, reports that there is a long way to go before things are truly cleaned up.

[Source: The Detroit News]

Click image for a gallery of the BYD e6

Unfortunately, the arrival of the Beijing Motor Show didn't bring much new information regarding the BYD e6 electric MPV concept, but there's still news to report. The tech spec sheet displayed with the car indicates that it's (theoretically?) got motors for both the front and rear axles. Autoblog Chinese did a walkaround of the green people mover on the floor, taking pictures of the exterior from every angle. BYD thoughtfully accessorized the e6 with a cute model to boot, and as you'll see in the attached gallery, she and her male counterpart positioned on the other side of the car help illustrate the size of the five-seat MPV. As we reported during the runup to the show, the all-electric e6 is said to have a 300-kilometer operating range on a full charge and could possibly go into production within the next two years, according to BYD Auto.


[Source: Autoblog Chinese]

This week in Beijing, BYD will unveil the e6, an EV crossover/MPV concept that looks a lot like the JDM Honda Odyssey. Unlike the Honda, however, the e6 runs on battery power only, with a reported range of 300km (186 miles) on a full charge. The battery pack, presumably lithium-ion, can be charged via a 220V household outlet or attached to a quick-charger that delivers an 80 percent charge in fifteen minutes. Performance-wise, the e6 is capable of acceleration to 100 km/h (62 mpg) in ten seconds and has a maximum speed of 160 km/h (99 mph). The battery pack is stored beneath the car's rear seats, a position BYD says provides the best protection in the event of a crash. According to the company, the e6 could reach production within two years. We'll keep an eye out for updates as the show gets underway next week.

[Sources: Autoblog Chinese, Autoblog Spanish]

In case you're not familiar with First Automobile Works (FAW), as its name suggests, FAW was the first company in China to mass produce vehicles. Their Jiefang CA-10 medium truck began production in 1956. They have a bit of a history in electric and hybrid cars as well, building the Prius in China for Toyota through a joint venture and building the Miles range of NEV's, an electric version of the Daihatsu Move.

It seems that FAW was not content simply building other company's hybrid designs, having just announced its new Besturn B70HEV hybrid sedan at the 2008 Beijing Motor Show. Using a 1.5 liter four-cylinder engine, water-cooled permanent magnet motor and 288 volt nickel metal hydride battery pack, the hybrid can accelerate from 0-100 kilometers per hour (62 miles per hour) in 12.5 seconds. Emissions are reduced by 31.8 percent while gasoline consumption is cut by 42.8 percent. Not too shabby for a first effort, we'd say.

[Source: Autoblog Chinese (translated)]

Call this an unexpected result but it seems that Beijing's plans to reduce pollution by banning traffic according to the license plates have not proven satisfactory. According to the city's Environmental Protection Bureau, the skies remained hazy and the pollution levels actually increased.

A top Chinese official affirmed that the reason for this increase was the weather, which was very humid, and the high levels the city already had during the previous days. Nevertheless, the traffic flowed better during the restriction days (Friday to Monday).

However, the quality of the air is quite an interesting story. According to Beijing's Environmental Protection Bureau, the index of particulate matter went from 91 on Friday to 100 on Monday afternoon. On the other hand, Xinhua (the official press agency) affirmed that Moday's index was 95 compared to 116 on Thursday. Add the fact that the Communist Party is ordering to the local press to say how good the measure was and that it is unclear how this index is calculated.

Remember that the International Olympic Comittee is seriously concerned on how the pollution levels can affect the athletes competing in the upcoming 2008 Summer Games. I'm also concerned about the effects on the average citizen and the atmosphere that we all share. I think (and please take this as my sole opinion) that the measure, besides being insufficient for attacking a single pollution factor, was too short to have a real effect. What do you think?

Related:

• Everything ready for Beijing's trial on reducing traffic
• Beijing to ban traffic in August, and maybe during the Olympics
• Save the Earth some CO2, with olympic spirit

[Source: The Washington Post thanks to Phil]