英闻天下——412 Long Road ahead for New Energy Cars

 　　Worsening air pollution in major Chinese cities has overshadowed the annual session of China's national lawmakers. Pollution control once again became one of the heated topics for panel discussion among the deputies of the National People's Congress over the past few days.

 

　　Some delegates -- many of whom are from the automotive industry -- have taken the opportunity to advocate electric cars as a part of the solution. But will it be easy to convince China's motorists to turn electric?

 

　　CRI"S Zhang Ru reports.

 

　　During China's annual legislative² session, Wan³ Gang, Minister of Science and Technology took the lead in promoting new energy vehicles by using an electric car as a commuter⁴ vehicle.

 

　　"Our ministry's two electric cars are very popular. My colleagues are more willing to take them, because every kilometer they travel means a reduction in PM2.5 emissions⁵, compared to gas vehicles."

 

　　In the meantime, Miao Wei, China's Minister of Industry and Information Technology, announced that the subsidies⁶ for new energy cars will be extended by three years.

 

　　"It should not be a problem to extend the policy. Before, most new energy cars put into use were buses. But it's good news that now more private buyers are opting⁷ for new energy cars."

 

　　China started promoting new energy vehicles in 25 cities in 2009, with public transport used as the pilot zone.

 

　　As of last year, nearly 28,000 new energy vehicles were sold and 80 percent of them were buses. But the number is far below the government's target of more than 500,000.

 

　　Besides the central government's subsidy⁸, some local governments like Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen also have local subsidy policies. For example, an electric car in Shanghai can be subsidized for a total of 100,000 yuan -- that's almost a third of what it costs for a domestically produced mid-range sedan.

 

　　But still, consumers have their concerns.

 

　　Yang Kai, a driver in Beijing says he worries about the quality of the battery.

 

　　"I am worried that perhaps the battery can only be used for two to three years. And if it costs me 30,000 to 50,000 yuan to buy a new battery, I won't buy an electric car."

 

　　National lawmaker Chen Yunhua, who is also chairmen of the Jiangsu Yueda Group Company, says technology is the key to making private new energy cars go mainstream⁹.

 

　　"I think China's new energy vehicle technology is immature¹⁰, including the battery, electric control and electromotor. Car manufactures must recognize that new energy vehicles are a developing trend in the auto¹ industry. If they don't step up efforts to develop technology now, they will find themselves in a passive situation in the future."

 

　　National lawmaker An Jin, chairman of Jiang Huai Auto Company in Anhui Province says the infrastructure¹¹ for electric vehicles is another major problem.

 

　　"Although electric vehicles can't go far yet due to the battery's weakness, they already can meet the needs of buses and daily commuting¹². The problem is that it's not convenient for the car owners to charge the battery. So the governments should build up sufficient electric charging posts."

 

　　So far the State Grid¹³ has built more than 80 charging stations as well as over 7,000 charging posts in cities where electric cars are being promoted. The number is said to be increased 30 times by the end of 2015.

 

　　For CRI, I am Zhang Ru.

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 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

3 wan   

(wide area network)广域网

参考例句：

• The shared connection can be an Ethernet,wireless LAN,or wireless WAN connection.提供共享的网络连接可以是以太网、无线局域网或无线广域网。

4 commuter   

n.(尤指市郊之间)乘公交车辆上下班者

参考例句：

• Police cordoned off the road and diverted commuter traffic. 警察封锁了道路并分流交通。
• She accidentally stepped on his foot on a crowded commuter train. 她在拥挤的通勤列车上不小心踩到了他的脚。

5 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。

6 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 opting   

v.选择，挑选( opt的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• What courses are most students opting for? 多数学生选什么课程？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Wells doesn't rule out opting out and then re-signing with Houston. 威尔斯没有排除跳出合同再与火箭重签的可能。 来自互联网

8 subsidy   

n.补助金，津贴

参考例句：

• The university will receive a subsidy for research in artificial intelligence.那个大学将得到一笔人工智能研究的补助费。
• The living subsidy for senior expert's family is included in the remuneration.报酬已包含高级专家家人的生活补贴。

9 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

10 immature   

adj.未成熟的，发育未全的，未充分发展的

参考例句：

• Tony seemed very shallow and immature.托尼看起来好像很肤浅，不夠成熟。
• The birds were in immature plumage.这些鸟儿羽翅未全。

11 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。

12 commuting   

交换（的）

参考例句：

• I used the commuting time to read and answer my mail. 我利用上下班在汽车中的时间来阅读和答复给我的函电。
• Noncommuting objects are as real to the mathematicians as commuting objects. 对于数学家来说，不可交换的对象与可交换的对象是一样真实的。

13 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。