With our recent exposure to hosting the games here in Vancouver, this was a great look into the upcoming London games and the fleet of vehicles from BMW.
In hindsight, I’m sure organizers have many things they could have improved upon, however, what a positive boost for the city. Just passing our 2 year anniversary, it’s incredible to see how much of a positive permanent impact the games had on Vancouver. Bringing attention to our laid-back town on the west coast was prominent, but we also gained the Canada Line (rapid transit extension to link downtown with our airport, YVR), many new and improved athletic facilities and a local sense of pride.
Anyway, to stop being Tourism Vancouver and become relevant to rallyhaus again, we had the privilege to see some of the first GM hybrids before going mainstream. These vehicles were green, and I feel a great demonstration of what a hybrid can do outside of the Prius. Ranging from Chevy Malibu sedans up to Suburbans and GMC Sierras the job was getting done, no matter the size.
Partners for London will be a mix of vehicle manufacturers with BMW leading the way. From The Independent
BMW has come up with a carefully selected mix of cars for the Games that have average CO2 emissions in official tests of just 116g/km, and fuel consumption of 64.5mpg. That’s roughly on a par with the figures you’d normally expect of a small runabout like the Ford Ka but the BMW fleet has to include a number of larger cars and SUVs in order to meet the diverse requirements of the Olympic organisers.
One high-profile contribution comes from the inclusion of 200 electric cars – 40 converted Minis and 160 plug-in ActiveE 1-Series – but range, space, and other limitations mean that battery-powered vehicles can only play a small role in reducing the fleet’s carbon footprint. Those electric BMWs will leave behind a useful piece of a post-Olympics legacy though; 120 charging points are being set up at five separate locations and these will be absorbed into the Source London network of plug-in locations once the Games are over.
There will also be 200 diesel-powered Mini Countrymans, and a limited number of SUVs – 17 X3s and 10 X5s – will be used for specialized roles such as towing boats and horse ambulances for the equestrian events. Besides the main car fleet, BMW will provide 25 motorcycles, which will be used to support road-based events such as cycling, and 400 Streetcruiser bicycles, which will help officials and team members follow the rowing events. Finally, the fleet will quietly be rounded out with people-carriers from Citroën, because BMW doesn’t make vehicles of that type itself.
A nice mix of cars, and in line to meet the goal of London 2012 being the games with the smallest carbon footprint yet.
Considering there are thousands of athletes embarking on a city for the short span of the Olympic Games, these fleets are crucial and then unnecessary within weeks. Where do they go?
Here, they were sold to the general public after being stripped of their vehicle wrap and badged as an ‘Olympic 2010 Edition.’ Seems to be well received as they are still around town being driven by locals. I saw a Tahoe yesterday.
With the strategy in London, I would think there would be a stronger demand for the BMW fleet. Maybe throw that in there along with the ‘rolling into operations vehicles’ pitch.
An Olympic 2012 X5… I’d buy it (at a discount considering the miles already on the SUV). But still, I’d buy it and happily drive it. Even rarer than an X5 ///M.
