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汽車制造商
Revenge of the petrolheads
燃油車贏得先機(jī)
Fossil-fuel cars are getting much cleaner, making life hard for green ones
燃油汽車越來越環(huán)保了，環(huán)保汽車日子難過了
THE Chevrolet Volt, a compact, petrol-electric hybrid launched by GM a year ago, was already selling poorly before it emerged last month that its batteries had caught fire in crash tests.
雪佛蘭新款車型沃藍(lán)達(dá)結(jié)構(gòu)緊湊，是由通用汽車公司在一年前推出的一款混合動(dòng)力車，上個(gè)月它的電池在碰撞試驗(yàn)中起火，但在此之前它的銷售很不理想。
GM is likely to fall several thousand short of its target of selling 10,000 Volts this year.
通用汽車對(duì)沃藍(lán)達(dá)首年銷售目標(biāo)一萬輛，預(yù)計(jì)可能要低售數(shù)千輛。
Despite subsidies, electric cars and hybrids (which can run off batteries or a generator powered by an engine) are shifting sluggishly.
盡管有一定政府補(bǔ)貼，電動(dòng)車和混合動(dòng)力車的換代很緩慢（混合動(dòng)力：當(dāng)電池和發(fā)電機(jī)沒電時(shí)，可以由汽油發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)驅(qū)動(dòng)。）
The Volt's battery problem should be fairly easy to fix.
沃藍(lán)達(dá)的電池問題應(yīng)該很容易解決。
But the profusion of hybrid and all-electric cars now hitting the roads faces a far bigger challenge.
但大量混合動(dòng)力和電動(dòng)汽車在其前進(jìn)的道路上面臨著更大的挑戰(zhàn)。
Petrol- and diesel-engined vehicles are becoming much more fuel-efficient.
汽油和柴油動(dòng)力車將變得更加省油。
That means motorists will remain reluctant to pay a fat premium for a green car.
這意味著駕駛者不愿多花錢來買綠色環(huán)保汽車。
Reprints Between now and 2025 regulators in Europe, America and elsewhere plan to impose ever greater curbs on cars' emissions of carbon dioxide (or higher fuel efficiency, which has much the same effect).
從現(xiàn)在到2025年，在歐美和其他地區(qū)的監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)對(duì)汽車的二氧化碳排放將出臺(tái)更高限制的新標(biāo)準(zhǔn)（或要求更高的燃油效率，其限制結(jié)果是一樣的）。
This is forcing carmakers to invest both in developing electrics and hybrids and in making the conventional engine cleaner.
這迫使汽車制造商加大電動(dòng)和混合動(dòng)力汽車研發(fā)投入，或使傳統(tǒng)發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)更高清潔。
Ricardo, an engineering consultancy, and Sanford C. Bernstein, an investment bank, have crunched a bunch of numbers on the technology race between conventional and green vehicles.
里卡多工程咨詢公司，和Sanford C. Bernstein投資銀行，匯總處理了傳統(tǒng)和綠色汽車技術(shù)競(jìng)賽中的不少數(shù)據(jù)。
They conclude that petrol and diesel cars will keep closing the emissions gap (see chart), while hybrids and, especially, electrics, will be more expensive to own for years to come.
他們得出結(jié)論說，汽油和柴油汽車的排放量將越來越接近（見圖表），而混合動(dòng)力車、特別是電動(dòng)車，將在今后幾年更為昂貴。
The internal-combustion engine will still be king of the road in the early 2020s, when only a fifth of cars sold in Europe will be hybrid or electric.
在21世紀(jì)20年代初，燃油車仍將是路上行駛車輛的主宰，歐洲銷售的汽車中只有五分之一是混合動(dòng)力或電動(dòng)的。
America's regulators are only now getting tough on fuel efficiency, so its cars are guzzling as much petrol as they did 20 years ago. However, in Europe, which got strict sooner and where fuel is heavily taxed, petrol and diesel vehicles have become much cleaner.
因?yàn)槊绹O(jiān)管局到現(xiàn)在才對(duì)汽車燃油效率的要求變的越來越嚴(yán)，所以美國的汽車和20年前的一樣，依然是"油老虎"。但在歐洲燃油稅很高，加油也得到了限制，汽油和柴油車已比以往干凈多了。
The average new car sold in Britain now does 52.5 miles per gallon, up from 40.6mpg ten years ago.
現(xiàn)在英國出售的新車平均每加侖汽油跑52.5英里，比十年前40.6英里已經(jīng)大大提高。
Even so, says Neville Jackson of Ricardo, there remains much scope for improvement: petrol and diesel cars still typically use less than a fifth of the energy stored in their fuel to turn the wheels.
即便如此，內(nèi)維爾?杰克遜的里卡多說，仍然有很大的改進(jìn)空間：汽油和柴油汽車通常只能將不到五分之一的燃料能量轉(zhuǎn)換為車輪扭矩。
Plenty more miles can be squeezed out of each gallon. It is simply a matter of cost.
每加侖油事實(shí)上可以支撐行駛更多的里程，這僅僅是一個(gè)成本問題。
To meet a series of deadlines to cut emissions, carmakers are putting into their cheaper models all sorts of gear hither to mostly seen on pricey high-performance cars:
要滿足一系列減排標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的最后期限，汽車制造商正把過去用在高性能汽車上的配置使用到他們的廉價(jià)車型中：
turbochargers and superchargers (which mean the engine can be smaller and more fuel-efficient), fancy fuel-injection systems and valve trains; grilles with variable aerodynamics, and so on.
渦輪增壓器、增壓機(jī)（這意味著發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)可以更小、油耗更低），花式燃油噴射系統(tǒng)和氣閥機(jī)構(gòu)；氣動(dòng)格柵，等等。
Next year Ford will offer a new Focus compact car in Europe, with a one-litre, three-cylinder engine that performs as well as the 1.6 litre, four-cylinder engine it replaces, yet uses about 20% less fuel.
明年福特將在歐洲亮出一個(gè)緊湊型轎車的新焦點(diǎn) —— 設(shè)計(jì)1升三缸發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)，其性能可與1.6升四缸發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)相媲美，但可節(jié)省20％左右的燃料。
Joe Bakaj, an engineer at Ford, says that even American buyers of the company's F-150 pickups, who would normally scoff at anything with less than a V8 engine, are switching to a new V6 version that performs at least as well but drinks less fuel.
福特的工程師喬?拜卡杰說他們的車型F–150，美國的買手選擇了V6發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)，以往這些人往往對(duì)小于V8的發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)不屑一顧，但至少現(xiàn)在改換到V6發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)能省下不少油耗。
The analysis by Ricardo and Bernstein shows the carmakers are in a tight spot: given motorists' aversion to the cost of electrics and hybrids, the quickest route towards meeting the deadlines for cutting emissions is to invest heavily in cleaning up their petrol and diesel cars.
里卡多和伯恩斯坦的分析顯示，汽車制造商都在捏一把汗：基于駕駛者購買電動(dòng)混合動(dòng)力汽車仍有較大的成本壓力，他們必須以最快的路線在截止日期前達(dá)到排放標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，這意味著必須大量投入研制開發(fā)使汽油柴油車輛的排放更加清潔。
But to squeak past the finishing line they will still need a small proportion of hybrids and electrics.
即使勉強(qiáng)達(dá)到排放標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，他們?nèi)匀恍枰”壤幕旌蟿?dòng)力和電動(dòng)汽車。
So they will have to keep spending on designing these, without their reaching a level of sales that will make them profitable.
因此他們只能持續(xù)投入設(shè)計(jì)這些混合動(dòng)力和電動(dòng)汽車，即便這些車型的銷售規(guī)模達(dá)不到盈利水平。
Stefanie Lang of Bernstein says this will force carmakers to work together on developing new technology: Toyota, for example, has agreed to work with Ford on hybrid sport-utility vehicles and with BMW on both electric batteries and diesel engines.
伯恩斯坦的斯黛芬尼?朗說，這將迫使汽車制造商共同開發(fā)新技術(shù)：例如，豐田已同意與福特聯(lián)合研制混合動(dòng)力運(yùn)動(dòng)型多用途車，并和寶馬聯(lián)合研制電動(dòng)電池和柴油發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)。
Carmakers are also dabbling in battery leasing (Renault) and car-sharing (Daimler) as they seek ways to persuade motorists that electric cars are affordable.
汽車制造商也涉足電池租賃（雷諾）和汽車共享（戴姆勒），因?yàn)樗麄儽仨氃O(shè)法說服駕駛者：他們是負(fù)擔(dān)得起電動(dòng)汽車。
Hybrids and electrics will be a drag on carmakers' profits for years.
復(fù)合動(dòng)力和電驅(qū)動(dòng)車輛將在今后幾年拖低汽車制造商的利潤。
But they are a useful marketing tool.
但它們是一個(gè)有用的營銷工具。
GM has found that adding the hybrid Volt (pictured) to its model range is enticing into its showrooms the sort of young urban buyers who normally ignore Detroit-made cars.
通用發(fā)現(xiàn)在車型中增加了沃藍(lán)達(dá)后，那些通常對(duì)底特律汽車無視的都市年輕人也被吸引到GM的展室了。
Many balk at the Volt's $32,000 price (after a generous government subsidy), but some end up driving away in a petrol-engined car like the Cruze, costing around half as much.
但他們中不少人對(duì)其32,000美元的價(jià)格望而生畏（盡管政府已經(jīng)慷慨地補(bǔ)貼了不少），結(jié)果他們中一些人還是選擇了汽油發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)車輛，比如科魯茲，其價(jià)格只有沃藍(lán)達(dá)的一半。
