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The sixth annual Challenge
Bibendum—the annual showcase for sustainable road mobility—opened
on October 12th in Shanghai, China, bringing together the largest
players of the automotive industry along with government representatives
from many countries around the world. For its Asian debut, the three-day
event was attended by representatives from the government of the
People’s Republic of China and from the City of Shanghai, as
well as from such institutions as the French Ministry of Transport,
the European Commission, the Fédération Internationale
de l’Automobile, the World Business Council for Sustainable
Development (WBCSD), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and
U.S. Department of Energy, the United Nations Environment Programme
and Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
The sheer number of accredited journalists covering the event this
year (almost 500, including over 200 Chinese journalists) testifies
to the media’s interest and to the event’s growing impact.
Following Chinese tradition, Edouard Michelin, CEO of Michelin Group,
officially opened Challenge Bibendum at Tongji University in Shanghai’s
International Automobile City with the strike of a gong. Speeches
were delivered by Han Zheng, mayor of Shanghai, and Deng Nan, vice
minister, Ministry of Science and Technology. These high-ranking
Chinese officials emphasized their country’s commitment to
promoting clean energies, diversifying energy sources and generally
ensuring their country’s sustainable development at a time
when it is experiencing an unprecedented economic boom.
With 1.3 billion inhabitants and a national car fleet that is growing
exponentially, China is the world’s third largest car producer
and boasts an extremely buoyant market. As such it is committed
to playing a major role on the global mobility scene. Fully aware
of what is at stake, the country has already embarked on a strong
program designed to promote cleaner vehicles. The project to meet
the Euro 3 standard by 2008 testifies to the country’s determination
to make traffic less polluting. It has, moreover, initiated a number
of research programs based on public/private partnerships involving
research laboratories, universities and industrial facilities. These
are targeted, among others, at electric, hybrid and fuel-cell powered
vehicles.
This year’s Challenge Bibendum fostered a valuable exchange
of views between China and participating automobile producers and
energy and equipment suppliers as evidenced by the meetings held
on opening day. Speakers stressed the importance of cooperation
between public and private sectors in order to bring about better
mobility.
Created in 1998 by Michelin Group to mark the 100th anniversary
of Bibendum, the “Michelin Man,” Challenge Bibendum has
quickly become a premier forum for industry, policymakers and experts
to review the latest technologies and progress made in the area
of alternative energies. This unique event also serves as a testing
ground and is the only one that showcases concept cars featuring
technologies often never unveiled before.
This year, 106 companies—40 percent from China—came to
Shanghai. Some 140 vehicles were registered, including passenger
cars, electric two-wheels and buses, of which 79 submitted to real-world
tests in a friendly atmosphere. The world’s largest automakers
presented vehicles equipped with the latest innovations, including
the hybrid Volkswagen “Sun Diesel” Golf IV, Ford Escape
Hybrid, Opel Zafira Hydrogen 3, Nissan X-Trail FCV, Peugeot Quark
and Audi’s A8 TDI.
The trend was clearly in favor of electric cars. Thanks to new lithium
batteries, their range now reaches 400km of autonomy. This technological
progress has facilitated the design of some amazing vehicles such
as the Courrèges EXE and the Volvo 3CC, which feature acceleration
on par with top sports cars while emitting no pollution. China contributed
several vehicles developed by universities. Electric cars are, in
fact, a big focus of research in China, as are hybrid technologies
and hydrogen. In a nutshell, all promising fuel-cell technologies
worldwide were represented at this year’s Challenge Bibendum.
Michelin also unveiled two concept cars: the Michelin HY-LIGHT,
an illustration of its vision for hydrogen powered cars developed
in partnership with the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI), which is especially
light and efficient; and the Michelin CONCEPT, which demonstrates
how electromechanical systems associated with electronic controls
can be used to improve road holding and comfort.
Challenge Bibendum 2004 concluded with a high-level symposium organized
with the support of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology
(MOST) and the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA),
with the close cooperation of Total and Ford. Among the distinguished
participants were industry representatives, key policymakers and
delegates from non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Plenary sessions and technical workshops provided experts and media
an opportunity to exchange views and experience on topics concerning
vehicles (advanced internal combustion engine and hybrid electric
vehicles; advanced electric battery and fuel cell vehicles; advanced
systems for transportation and safety) and energy types (fossil
fuels, biofuels, electricity and hydrogen).
The “Mobility 2030” report recently issued by the WBCSD
clearly indicated that if things continued at the current rate,
then worldwide energy consumption would double and global pollution
would worsen, negatively affecting the public health situation in
emerging countries. This would happen within the context of increasing
urbanization as the world will witness the growth of over 30 megapolises
and developing nations will register 300 cities counting over one
million inhabitants by 2015. The report concludes that action must
be taken now because positive results would likely require half
a century to take effect.
Is it too late to change? Not according to the participants at Challenge
Bibendum 2004, who underscored many interesting development trends
from technological developments to the willingness of public authorities
to reinforce their environmental regulations. The importance of
city planning and infrastructure was also identified as a key challenge
for rapidly motorizing countries. The critical issue is that mobility
must become ever more respectful of the environment and responsive
to all people’s needs.
For more information about Challenge Bibendum 2004 and to view
photography of the concept vehicles displayed, visit www.challengebibendum.com.
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