Apparently Leonardo DiCaprio is gearing up to race electric cars in a new circuit starting up next September in Beijing. The races hope to draw hundreds of thousands of potential electric car buyers who could help alleviate China’s chronic air pollution problems with their environmentally-friendly vehicle purchases.

“The glitz and glam surrounding the electric Formula car racing might just have enough panache to attract young Chinese to the electric car market,” said Namrita Chow, manager and senior analyst at consultancy IHS Automotive. “If an electric car can be seen as ‘cool,’ then the trends will develop with people aspiring to buy electric vehicles.” – Wall Street Journal Scene Blog