VOA常速英语2014--At NY Auto Show Electric Cars Coming On Strong 电动汽车在纽约车展上强势来袭

 

At NY Auto¹ Show Electric Cars Coming On Strong 电动汽车在纽约车展上强势来袭

NEW YORK — Plug in your car, then unplug, and drive away.  More and more consumers are doing just that. At the 2014 New York Auto Show many automakers unveiled electric or hybrid² vehicle to address the growing global appetite for environment-friendly cars.

插上电源，充满电后拔掉，就可以把车开走了。越来越多的消费者这样做。在2014年的纽约车展上，许多汽车制造商推出了电力或混合驱动汽车来解决全球日益增长的对环保车的需求。

While some technological³ challenges remain, the market is heating up. 

虽然存在着一些技术上的挑战，但是这个市场正在升温。

A hydrogen fuel cell vehicle from Toyota converts hydrogen into electricity, has a smooth ride, strong accelertion, and leaves no carbon monoxide behind.  

这是一款氢燃料电池车，丰田汽车公司将氢燃料转化为电力，驾驶平稳，加速快，没有一氧化碳的排放。

“We think that hydrogen is the future of electric vehicles because they’re so much more convenient," said Toyota's Wade⁴ Hoyt.  "And the way it works is that the hydrogen wants to combine with the oxygen in the air. It forms H2O, which is water vapor⁵, is the only exhaust, so it’s a true zero emissions⁶ vehicle.   And you get electricity out of that combination."

“我们认为使用氢燃料是电力汽车未来的趋势，因为很它很方便，”丰田公司的Wade Hoyt说“它的工作方式是氢气和空气中的氧气结合生成H2O,这是唯一的排放物水，所以这是真正的零污染的汽车。由氢转化为电力。”

Many manufacturers are now producing hybrids⁷ and electric vehicles.  Ford⁸ has unveiled an all-electric Ford Focus and Chevy is touting⁹ its environment-friendly Volt¹⁰. While electric cars are easy on the environment, they can also offer strong preformance.  Tesla's has ferocious¹¹ acceleration¹², pushing the car from zero to about 100 kilometers per hour in three-point-seven seconds, with a top speed just over 200 kilometers per hour.  Electric motors deliver strong acceleration because they offer more torque than equivalent gasoline engines. That is why luxury brands, like BMW, are experimenting with this new technology.  

许多制造商现在在生产油电混合汽车。福特汽车公司正在大力促销一款环保节能的纯电力的汽车，福特福克斯和雪佛兰。环保车在注重环保的同时，也提供更强的性能。特斯拉汽车有着凶猛的加速度，3.7秒时间就能把车从0加速到每小时100公里，最高时速可达到200公里。电动马达提供强大的加速度是因为它们比耗油引擎提供更多的扭力.

But the switchover from gasoline is an evolutionary¹³ process, says James Bell of General Motors.

但是通用汽车公司的James Bell认为从传统的耗油车转换到电动车是一个发展的过程。

"I think the mistake that many people in the industry and in the media maybe thought was that -- when the Nissan Leaf came out or the Chevrolet Volt -- was that suddenly people would drop their gasoline cars and rush for them.  No, it’s not that way," he said. "This is going to be a slow evolution, but it’s also a Pandora’s box moment.  It’s not going to go back in.  Electrified vehicles are the way to meet those emissions in the future.”

“我认为许多业内人士和媒体都可能错误的认为，当Nissan Leaf或雪佛兰Volt推出来时，人们会一窝蜂的去购买油电混合车，而不再去买汽油动力车。不，不是这样子的，”他说，“这是一个缓慢的进展，但是就像打开了潘多拉的盒子，不会再倒回去。因为电动汽车符合未来排放的标准。”

Alternative fuel vehicles account for just one million of the than 60 million cars produced worldwide annually¹⁴.  But in 2013 the number of hybrid and electric cars doubled. Automakers still don’t make money on electric cars because of the high cost of battery technology. Tesla's battery, for example, costs $50,000, about half of the vehicle’s total selling price.  But manufacturers pay the costs because they believe electric vehicles are an important part of the industry's future.

全球汽车的年销售量大约是6000多万辆，其中代用燃料的汽车大约100万辆。但是2013年，混合电动车的销售量翻了一番。因为研发电池科技的费用极高，汽车厂商销售电动车仍不赚钱。例如，特拉斯电池制造价格高达5万美金，几乎是汽车销售价格的一半。但是汽车厂商愿意支付这样的价格，因为他们坚信电动汽车是汽车产业未来重要的一部分。

Matt Miller¹⁵, auto industry reporter for Bloomberg News, says a mixture of old and new technology is the winning strategy.

美国Bloomberg News的记者Matt Miller表示，融合新旧科技是必胜的决策。

“Really the key for the future, I think, is hybrid technology, so rather than having a car like a Tesla, completely electric-powered, you have a car like the BMW I-3 or I-8, which has a small gasoline motor to help charge the battery when it’s needed and electric motors to drive," he said. "That’s got to be the future.  Then you get something like 90 or 100 miles per gallon, [19 to 21 kilometers per liter] which is decent and you still get the torque when you need it.”

“我认为未来的关键是混合技术，比起特拉斯的纯电动车，人们更喜欢宝马的I-3 或 I-8，配备小型的耗油引擎在需要使用电动马达驾驶的时候协助充电。这是未来的趋势，这样消费者每加仑的汽油可以开到90-100英里，当需要加速时，也能提供相应的扭力。

 

The challenge is to produce a car with long, inexpensive battery life that allows the driver to travel a long way between charges.   Automakers expect many millions will then decide to switch from gas to alternative fuel.

现在最大的挑战是制造出便宜而且寿命长的电池，让驾驶人在充满电之后可以长时间的驾驶。这样汽车制造商期待将有数百万的消费者会选择从传统的耗油车转换到替代性能源车辆。

1 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。

2 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

3 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

4 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

5 vapor   

n.蒸汽，雾气

参考例句：

• The cold wind condenses vapor into rain.冷风使水蒸气凝结成雨。
• This new machine sometimes transpires a lot of hot vapor.这部机器有时排出大量的热气。

6 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

7 hybrids   

n.杂交生成的生物体( hybrid的名词复数 )；杂交植物（或动物）；杂种；（不同事物的）混合物

参考例句：

• All these brightly coloured hybrids are so lovely in the garden. 花园里所有这些色彩鲜艳的杂交花真美丽。 来自辞典例句
• The notion that interspecific hybrids are rare is ill-founded. 有一种看法认为种间杂种是罕见的，这种看法是无根据的。 来自辞典例句

8 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

9 touting   

v.兜售( tout的现在分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• He's been touting his novel around publishers for years. 他几年来一直到处找出版商兜售自己的小说。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Technology industry leaders are touting cars as a hot area for growth. 科技产业领袖吹捧为增长热点地区的汽车。 来自互联网

10 volt   

n.伏特，伏

参考例句：

• You may use 100 and 110 volt appliances in your room.您可以在房间使用100及110伏特的电器。
• The common service voltage of electric power in our country is 220/380 volt.我国普通供电电压为220/380伏。

11 ferocious   

adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的

参考例句：

• The ferocious winds seemed about to tear the ship to pieces.狂风仿佛要把船撕成碎片似的。
• The ferocious panther is chasing a rabbit.那只凶猛的豹子正追赶一只兔子。

12 acceleration   

n.加速，加速度

参考例句：

• All spacemen must be able to bear acceleration.所有太空人都应能承受加速度。
• He has also called for an acceleration of political reforms.他同时呼吁加快政治改革的步伐。

13 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

14 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

15 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。