第1604期:The future of electric cars

We are all aware of the damaging pollution that’s created by driving petrol and diesel vehicles. Many of the world’s cities are clogged with traffic, creating fumes containing gases such as nitrogen oxides. The solution for a cleaner, greener future could be electric vehicles. But how optimistic should we be?

我们都知道驾驶汽油和柴油车辆会造成破坏性污染。世界上许多城市都被交通堵塞，产生含有氮氧化物等气体的烟雾。实现更清洁、更环保的未来的解决方案可能是电动汽车。但是我们应该乐观到什么程度呢？

There was much excitement last year when the UK government announced it will ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030. But is that easier said than done? The road to global traffic being totally electric is still a long way off. Currently, battery life is an issue – a fully charged battery won’t take you as far as a full tank of petrol. There are also limited numbers of charging points to plug an EV into.

去年，当英国政府宣布将从 2030 年起禁止销售新的汽油和柴油汽车时，人们非常兴奋。但这说起来容易做起来难吗？通往全球交通完全电动化的道路还有很长的路要走。目前，电池寿命是一个问题——充满电的电池不会带你走满油箱。插入电动汽车的充电点数量也有限。

Of course, technology is always improving. Some of the biggest tech companies, like Google and Tesla, are spending huge amounts of money developing electric cars. And most of the big car manufacturers are now making them too. Colin Herron, a consultant on low-carbon vehicle technology, told the BBC: “The big leap forward will come with solid state batteries, which will appear first in mobile phones and laptops before they progress to cars.” These will charge more quickly and give cars a bigger range.

当然，技术总是在进步。一些最大的科技公司，如谷歌和特斯拉，正在投入巨资开发电动汽车。大多数大型汽车制造商现在也在制造它们。低碳汽车技术顾问科林赫伦告诉 BBC：“固态电池将带来巨大的飞跃，固态电池将首先出现在手机和笔记本电脑中，然后再发展为汽车。”这些将更快地充电并为汽车提供更大的续航里程。

Cost is another issue that may deter people switching to electric power. But some countries offer incentives, such as cutting prices by reducing import taxes, and not charging for road tax and parking. Some also provide exclusive lanes for electric cars to be driven on, overtaking traditional cars which might be stuck in jams. These kinds of measures have made Norway the country with the most electric cars per capita at more than thirty electric cars per 1000 inhabitants.

成本是另一个可能阻止人们转向电力的问题。但一些国家提供激励措施，例如通过降低进口税来降低价格，以及不收取道路税和停车费。有些还为电动汽车提供专用车道，超越可能陷入拥堵的传统汽车。这些措施使挪威成为人均电动汽车最多的国家，每 1000 名居民拥有超过 30 辆电动汽车。

But Colin Herron warns that ‘electric motoring’ doesn’t mean a zero-carbon future. “It’s emission-free motoring, but the car has to be built, the battery has to be built, and the electricity does come from somewhere.” Maybe it’s time to think about making fewer journeys or using public transport.

但科林赫伦警告说，“电动汽车”并不意味着零碳的未来。 “这是无排放的汽车，但必须制造汽车，制造电池，而且电力确实来自某个地方。”也许是时候考虑减少旅行或使用公共交通工具了。

词汇表

pollution 污染
petrol 汽油
diesel 柴油
vehicle 车辆，交通工具
traffic 交通量
fumes （有害的）气体，烟雾
nitrogen oxides 氮氧化物
electric vehicle (EV) 电动汽车
battery life 电池使用时间，电池寿命
tank （盛放液体或气体的）容器，罐，箱
charging point 充电桩
range 行驶距离
electric power 电力
road tax 公路税
parking 停车
lane 车道
jam 交通堵塞
electric motoring 电动车
zero-carbon 净零排放
emission-free 零排放，无排放的
public transport 公共交通