2016年CRI Tech Breakthrough on EVs Needs Unified Efforts: Political Adviser

 

After failing in Beijing's license¹ plate lottery² system for some three years, Qin Xiaofei finally made his decision in January to buy a battery-driven car to chauffeur³ his wife who has recently become pregnant.

But, he says, one of the biggest concerns he has with his new car is finding enough places to charge it up.

"Up till now, I find charging to be the most troublesome. All parking space in my community has been leased out. Without the parking space, we can't install our own charging post and have to go to other places to charge the car. And there aren't many charging stations in Beijing right now."

Qin's concern is shared by many drivers of new energy vehicles in China which have prompted governments to expand the charging network.

In Beijing, for example, municipal authorities have vowed⁴ to add another 5 thousand public charging posts throughout the city this year.

But, according to political adviser⁵ Ma Li, concerns for the lack of charging posts and battery life have stunted⁶ market growth.

He believes that drivers will only be content when pure electric cars have a range of one thousand kilometer on each charge.

"Regardless of the type of new energy vehicle, cars should serve practical functions first. One of the problems of electric cars is the range which can only reach 400 kilometers. People can only leave out their concerns when vehicles can cover 1 thousand kilometers on one charge."

Xing Lei, chief editor of China Auto⁷ Review, echoes that view, and notes that car makers⁸ are working on batteries to further commercialize EVs.

"Battery takes pretty much 50 percent of the cost of a new energy vehicle. So it's the biggest bottleneck⁹. You know, higher battery density¹⁰ gives you a better range. So now companies are working to reduce the cost of batteries, to drive down the prices of the new energy vehicles themselves, so that they could be more affordable¹¹ in the future."

Leading market players like BYD are seeking to mass produce the key component¹².

Sherry Li is the company's general manager of public relations.

"We are making basically all types of battery products that can be commercialized now. Our new factory on LiFePO4 batteries were just put into production last year, which is also the largest one of lithium battery in the world."

However, work from one single company may be still far from making a breakthrough in the field.

Ma Li is calling for a more unified¹³ approach to research at a national level.

"We have been calling for years that research on fundamental and common technologies must be led by the central government. They should establish a research institution specialized¹⁴ on batteries. When the research came out with results, the government can sell it to companies. It will also facilitate the setting up of standards for products later."

Ma believes the outlook is bright.

The Ministry¹⁵ of Industry and Information Technology, together with nine companies, are working to build a research center or common platform for batteries backed by 500 million yuan of investment.

The announcement was made after the country's State Council pledged last month to provide more supporting measures.

For CRI, this is Fei Fei.

1 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

2 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。

3 chauffeur   

n.(受雇于私人或公司的)司机；v.为…开车

参考例句：

• The chauffeur handed the old lady from the car.这个司机搀扶这个老太太下汽车。
• She went out herself and spoke to the chauffeur.她亲自走出去跟汽车司机说话。

4 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

5 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

6 stunted   

adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的

参考例句：

• the stunted lives of children deprived of education 未受教育的孩子所过的局限生活
• But the landed oligarchy had stunted the country's democratic development for generations. 但是好几代以来土地寡头的统治阻碍了这个国家民主的发展。

7 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

8 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 bottleneck   

n.瓶颈口，交通易阻的狭口；妨生产流程的一环

参考例句：

• The transportation bottleneck has blocked the movement of the cargo.运输的困难阻塞了货物的流通。
• China's strained railroads already become a bottleneck for the economy.中国紧张的铁路运输已经成为经济增长的瓶颈。

10 density   

n.密集，密度，浓度

参考例句：

• The population density of that country is 685 per square mile.那个国家的人口密度为每平方英里685人。
• The region has a very high population density.该地区的人口密度很高。

11 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

12 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

13 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

14 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

15 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。