美国国家公共电台 NPR--The people most interested in electric vehicles can't afford to buy them

The people most interested in electric vehicles can't afford to buy them

Transcript¹

Studies show a generational gap in electric vehicle purchases: younger people tend to be more excited about them, but less able to afford them. (Story aired on All Things Considered on Nov. 8, 2022.)

TECHNOLOGY

Younger people are most interested in electric vehicles, but can't afford to buy them

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Automakers are betting on the rise of electric vehicles, even though some of the people most interested in buying them cannot afford them yet - young people, those under 40. NPR's Camila Domonoske takes a look at this enthusiasm age gap.

CAMILA DOMONOSKE, BYLINE³: Let's start with someone who is way under 40.

AVI AARON: Avi (ph).

ROG: And I'm Rog (ph).

DOMONOSKE: Meet Avi Aaron (ph) and his dad, Rog. A few years ago, Rog was driving when Avi, then in preschool, piped up from the back seat.

ROG: He said, is this a Tesla? And I said, no, it's a Camry.

DOMONOSKE: OK, Avi said, but it's electric, right?

ROG: I said, no, it's a Camry, and it uses gas.

DOMONOSKE: If you think that was the end of the conversation, you probably don't know any pre-schoolers.

ROG: Kept on asking, like, shouldn't we drive an electric car? Why don't we drive an electric car?

DOMONOSKE: OK. This is obviously an extreme example of the generational divide on electric vehicles. But the divide is real. It shows up in poll after poll. People under 40 are more likely to want to go electric, but people over 40 are more likely to actually buy a new car, especially a pricey one, like an electric vehicle. Is that a conundrum⁴ for the auto² industry? Matt Jones with the auto pricing site TrueCar says maybe not.

MATT JONES: We're not living only in today. We have to think about what's coming up next.

DOMONOSKE: Think about what's coming up in, say, 2035 when California and New York will start requiring all new vehicles to be zero emission⁵.

JONES: Because as we get to the time around 2035, these people who, you know, we're calling youngsters now are not necessarily going to be so young.

DOMONOSKE: In short, he argues, as automakers are ramping⁶ up production, these electric vehicle fans will be growing up into prime car buying age. Meanwhile, data show that interest in electric vehicles is rising and not just among young people.

SHELLEY FRANCIS: It's more so just kind of across the spectrum⁷.

DOMONOSKE: Shelley Francis runs a consulting group called EVNoire and talks to both automakers and drivers. She says when gas prices went up this summer, she got a lot of questions like...

FRANCIS: You guys work in an electric vehicle space. Like, tell me more about how I can save money because these gas prices are killing⁸ me.

DOMONOSKE: And drivers young and old care about gas prices. There are big challenges as automakers try to take electric vehicles from a few percent of sales to most of the auto market. They need materials. Charging infrastructure⁹ is a hurdle¹⁰. Prices need to come down. But this age gap, it's not a major concern to the industry, as young people get older and older people get more interested in electric vehicles. Consider the Aaron family. I asked Avi, who's now 7, what the family drives today.

AVI: A Poleystar (ph).

DOMONOSKE: Polestar - that's a Volvo spinoff, and...

AVI: It's an electric car.

DOMONOSKE: And his grandparents, they now drive a Kia Niro and a Nissan Leaf - both all-electric.

Camila Domonoske, NPR News.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

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 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 conundrum   

n.谜语；难题

参考例句：

• Let me give you some history about a conundrum.让我给你们一些关于谜题的历史。
• Scientists had focused on two explanations to solve this conundrum.科学家已锁定两种解释来解开这个难题。

5 emission   

n.发出物，散发物；发出，散发

参考例句：

• Rigorous measures will be taken to reduce the total pollutant emission.采取严格有力措施，降低污染物排放总量。
• Finally,the way to effectively control particulate emission is pointed out.最后，指出有效降低颗粒排放的方向。

6 ramping   

土堤斜坡( ramp的现在分词 )； 斜道； 斜路； （装车或上下飞机的）活动梯

参考例句：

• The children love ramping about in the garden. 孩子们喜欢在花园里追逐嬉戏，闹着玩。
• Have you ever seen a lion ramping around? 你看到过狮子暴跳吗？

7 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

8 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

9 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。

10 hurdle   

n.跳栏，栏架；障碍，困难；vi.进行跨栏赛

参考例句：

• The weather will be the biggest hurdle so I have to be ready.天气将会是最大的障碍，所以我必须要作好准备。
• She clocked 11.6 seconds for the 80 metre hurdle.八十米跳栏赛跑她跑了十一秒六。