An apology and the Beijing Auto Show

IRA PANGANIBAN

BEFORE anything else, allow me to begin with a public apology for a post I made on Facebook.

There is no easy way to express an apology. But I will start this with one anyway. Please allow me to extend my most sincere and deepest apology to our respected Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista for the posts I made on social media that were directed against him.

I have no intention to hurt, malign, disparage or insult anyone when I post on my Facebook account. Nevertheless, I take full and sole responsibility for my actions that proved to be hurtful to him, his family, relatives and friends. To them, please allow me to likewise express my humble apology.

I recently approached Jimmy and offered my apology, but I want to issue this public apology since I may have publicly implied that he was part of a corrupt system. Please allow me to clarify and let everyone know that I know this is not true.

I learned an important lesson here and I promise not to make it happen again. Moving forward, I vow to exercise utmost discernment in all my affairs and be responsible in what I say, post or share. I will endeavor to check the facts, to use my platform to present every angle of a story, and to refrain from reiterating unconfirmed statements as if they are absolute truth.

For all the pain and misunderstanding I caused, I am deeply sorry and once again apologize to Jimmy. Mabuhay kayo, sir!

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A very electric Beijing Auto Show

We just came home from one, if not the biggest auto show in the world, the Beijing Auto Show (but they call it the Auto Show China).

Not surprisingly, the whole New China International Exhibition Center was packed with models of electric vehicles (EVs). You could say it was an electrified show with Chinese, Japanese, American and European brands all displaying their version of the EVs.

I was invited by Geely to cover the event and we were presented with their new plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) flagship SUV, the Starship. This is a 5-meter long big SUV that has a unique door system where the top part opens like a gullwing while the lower part swings like a suicide door (toward the back instead of moving to the front.)

Geely will also be introducing four other new models in their line up, the L5, L6, L7 and L9 (we were wondering why there was no L8, too.) The L7 and L5 we were able to test at the Geely factory in Chanxing. These are midsize SUVs that have very luxurious interiors, well designed bodies, and a really high-tech dashboard.

The cars all had multiple touch screens on the dash, some even having up to four large screens, enough to play video games for the passengers while on a drive. We will have a separate story here on Fast Times for that.

Other Beijing Auto Show highlights from the foreign brands included Toyota with their two main displays, the bZ4x and the China exclusive bZ3. Honda had its Ye family S7 and P7 on display, but these models are mostly for China only.

Audi presented their Q6 and SQ6 e-Tron that will be produced in its Changchun factory. Mercedes also revealed their new Electric G-Wagon while Mini showed off their Aceman, also an electric car.

Ford was there with a huge display presenting the much awaited Bronco and the 60th anniversary editions of the Mustang. Chevrolet also had their version of an EV with the PHEV Equinox Plus.

As for the Chinese brands, GAC had the Aion on its booth while BAIC had the Arcfox aS5 and the Beijing SUV BJ40. BYD, the new market leader in China, presented three new models — the Qin L, Seal 06 and Sea Lion 07 as well as the Ocean-M concept.

Changan showed off their Qiyuan E07 and their Hunter pickup with Great Wall Motor putting on display the new Haval H9. Chery introduced a sporty version of their iCar, the 03T and two other models — the V23 and the X25.

Jetour (a Chery brand) had its own booth too, putting on stand the new Shanhai NEV series T1 and T5 and presented the new Shanhai L7 SUV. Lynk & Co of Geely showed off their 08 EM-P and Nio presented its luxurious ET7 Executive Edition displaying its battery swap capability.

While there were car brands that did not have EVs in their line-up, like Mazda and Ford, the whole exhibition center was packed with electric vehicles charging the possible future of Chinese mobility toward this direction.

As for the possibility of these cars making their way onto our shores, well, the brands I mentioned are already established here. So, I think this may come true.