英闻天下——159 A Long Road for 'Green' Cars

 　　Electric cars presented by the world renowned¹ automakers including Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Ford³ highlighted the auto² show's preview, with several models drawing visitors attention with their highly sophisticated technology, sleek⁴ designs, and stunning⁵ colors.

 

　　Cadillac enters the game with the new ELR. GM Global Vice⁶ President Bob Ferguson says it symbolizes⁷ the company's commitment to the plug-in vehicle.

 

　　"We believe in this technology. I think it's technology for today and tomorrow so we'll continue down this path with lots of enthusiasm."

 

　　Electric car manufacturers at the show concede that the cost of an electric car is currently substantially more than a normal gasoline car, but they also believe that the electric cars are worth the extra expense.

 

　　Kevin Layden, director of electrification⁸ engineering of Ford company, is one of them.

 

　　"The electric car is right now at a significant premium⁹. I think we're at 39,000 US dollars for a Focus Electric here, versus¹⁰ I would say a similarly equipped gasoline Focus is in the 27,000 US dollar region. And what you do have to look at is the features, so when you start comparing like for like similarly equipped vehicles, its price isn't skyrocketing."

 

　　Although price may not pose a big concern to potential customers, the lack of charging stations and the long time it takes for electric cars to charge remains¹¹ a big sticking point.

 

　　GM's newly developed electric car, only achieved half its estimated sales in the US market last year, while sales the Nissan LEAF, produced by the Japanese auto manufacturer Nissan Motor Company, didn't even manage half of its forecast sale volume in the US market last year.

 

　　GM's Kevin Kelly concedes that they are hoping to find solutions to help drivers power up.

 

　　"We are working with utility partners as we can to help them understand　where most of our owners are, where they're charging most of the time, where we're seeing our vehicles ending up in the population. So we're working to let them know that information so that we can get infrastructure¹² put smartly in deployment¹³".

 

　　Ford's Kevin Layden says many electric vehicle manufacturers have called for the government to allay¹⁴ customers' fears by installing more charging stations for electric cars.

 

　　"We're going to see that the customers have that option to plug in at work, plug in at the shopping areas, as well as plug in at their home".

 

　　Auto experts say that the installation of more charging facilities would not only bring a boost to the popularity of electric cars, but is in itself a huge potential market.

 

　　The auto show will be open to the public from January 19 to January 27.

 

　　For CRI, I'm Wang Xiao.

1 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

2 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。

3 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。

4 sleek   

adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢

参考例句：

• Women preferred sleek,shiny hair with little decoration.女士们更喜欢略加修饰的光滑闪亮型秀发。
• The horse's coat was sleek and glossy.这匹马全身润泽有光。

5 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

6 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

7 symbolizes   

v.象征，作为…的象征( symbolize的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The use of light and dark symbolizes good and evil. 用光明与黑暗来象征善与恶。
• She likes olive because It'symbolizes peace. 她喜欢橄榄色因为它象征着和平。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 electrification   

n.充电，电气化；起电；电化；带电

参考例句：

• Electrification of the countryside--yes, that, too, is impressive. 是的。农村电气化也是了不起的事。 来自演讲部分
• After electrification, it will readily stick to a wall or a ceiling. 起电后，它立即吸附到墙壁上或天花板上。 来自辞典例句

9 premium   

n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的

参考例句：

• You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
• Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后，清水便因稀而贵了。

10 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

12 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

13 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

14 allay   

v.消除，减轻(恐惧、怀疑等)

参考例句：

• The police tried to allay her fears but failed.警察力图减轻她的恐惧，但是没有收到什么效果。
• They are trying to allay public fears about the spread of the disease.他们正竭力减轻公众对这种疾病传播的恐惧。