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If you hadn't noticed, the Olympic Games in Beijing are being celebrated these days. MINI decided that it was a good opportunity to mix Chinese traditions with British German craftmanship and so they sent a MINI Clubman to be cut in half and made a rickshaw. Yes, not a lot of horsepowers, but human legpower moves the MINI rickshaw around the Hu Tong district in Beijing. The vehicle is finished with all sorts of amulets and decorations to bring good luck to the rider, and liberate some positive energy during these Games. What we can't deny is that human power is actually greener than an ICE engine. Oh, wait, didn't somebody challenge that statement?



[Source: BMW]

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The Beijing Olympics will have a complete fleet of 5,000 "green cars" by Volkswagen, which is an official sponsor. The chosen models are the Magotan 2.0 TDI (6.2 l/100) and Magotan BlueMotion (5.1 l/100), the Sagitar 1.4 TSI (6.4 l/100), the Touran EcoFuel (bifuel CNG/gasoline) and the Tiguan 2.0 TDI (6.9 l/100). The Magotan is a locally-produced version of the VW Passat and the Sagitar is the name used to identify the Jetta. The Olympic cars carry a special car design, which features Olympic tradition with symbols that represent the concepts of "mobility", "wind" and "street" combined.


[Source: Auto News]

There had been some speculation about Beijing's plans to force traffic restrictions in order to reduce the city's pollution for the Summer Olympic Games. At first, traffic restrictions were proposed but they were axed, then proposed again. We also saw some other creative measures to control pollution with limited resources and available time.

Nevertheless, this time it seems that restrictions are for real:

First, from July 20 to September 20, vehicles registered in Beijing with license plates ending in an odd number will only be allowed on the roads every other day. So, on days when odd numbered license plates will be allowed, vehicles with license plates ending in an even number will be banned. Taxis, ambulances, postal delivery, and other public vehicles will be exempt.

Second, Beijing's public workers have been instructed to leave their cars at home and use nothing but mass transit until the Olympic games have ended. According to the European Space Agency, the Chinese capital and neighboring provinces have the world's highest levels of NOx.

[Source: Chinacartimes]