With China pushing the Olympic Games as being ‘the greenest ever’ various car makers have chipped in with hybrid or hydrogen powered vehicles for Olympic fleet use, outside of the Olympics some taxi drivers have upgraded their cars to hybrid models. Hopefully to give themselves better fuel economy, and to help passengers think they are doing their bit by taking a green cab.
The Chang’an Jie Xun MPV is in service in Beijing:
As is this rather handsome FAW Besturn B50 Hybrid taxi cab:
As the Olympics get ever closer (24 days to go!) you can bet we will see more hybrids being put into taxi service in Beijing. In the other Olympic cities, Qingdao, Tianjin etc, we havent yet seen any sign of hybrid cars breaking into taxi circles.
Suddenly an FAW Besturn hybrid? Whose technology is the powertrain? Toyota’s synergy perhaps?
I think Chang’an can rightfully claim first Chinese-made hybrid to market with its hybrid.
Is the Jie Xun hybrid actually on sale though? Chery’s A5 is imminent as is the aforementioned Bestrun.
The Jie Xun is a funny one - they’ve shown off hydrogen versions, but they never seem to make it to market. The gasoline Jie Xun is out, but ive yet to see one.