2020年经济学人 电动自行车冲击(1)

Business

商业版块

Bicycles

自行车

Electric shock

电动自行车冲击

Two wheels good. Two wheels plus a motor better

两个轮子的自行车很好。在两个轮子的自行车上加上发动机，变成电动自行车，这样更好。

Vanmoof, a dutch bicycle-maker, is known for sleek¹ designs and clever advertising². In a television spot for its newest model, images of the evils of car culture—accidents, gridlock and pollution— are projected onto the skin of a luxury car, which melts, turning into one of the company’s elegant e-bikes.

荷兰自行车制造商Vanmoof以设计精巧和广告巧妙著称。在其最新车型的电视广告中，将一些汽车文化的罪恶形象，包括交通事故、交通拥堵以及污染，投射到一辆豪华汽车的外壳上，这辆车的影像渐渐消散，变成了一辆Vanmoof公司精美的电动自行车。

Electrically assisted bicycles are not about to replace cars. But they are booming, especially in Europe, where sales rose by 23% in 2019, to 3m units. E-bikes are unlocking even saturated³ bicycle markets like the Netherlands, where the average person already owns 1.3 pushbikes. Last year Deloitte, a consultancy, estimated the number of e-bikes worldwide at 200m, and expected it to hit 300m by 2023.

电动自行车不会取代汽车。但是电动自行车的产业正在迅速发展，尤其是在欧洲，2019年，电动自行车的销量增长了23%，达到了300万台。电动自行车甚至正在打开像荷兰这样饱和的自行车市场，荷兰人均拥有1.3辆自行车。去年，咨询公司德勤估计，全球电动自行车的数量为2亿辆，预计到2023年将达到3亿辆。

That may prove to be an underestimate now that coronavirus-wary commuters are shunning⁴ public transport and cities are expanding cycle lanes. Sales, which braked in March and April owing to supply-chain wobbles and shuttered stores, shifted into high gear when lockdowns lifted. In June revenue at Accell, Europe’s biggest bicycle manufacturer, was 53% higher than a year ago, largely thanks to e-bikes.

这一数据可能被低估了，现在的通勤者们对冠状病毒十分警惕，他们避免乘坐公共交通，城市也在扩大自行车道。今年3月和4月，由于供应链动荡和门店关闭，销量一度陷入停滞，但当停工解除后，销量攀升。6月份，欧洲最大的自行车制造商Accell的收入比一年前增长了53%，主要得益于电动自行车。

1 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。

2 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

3 saturated   

a.饱和的，充满的

参考例句：

• The continuous rain had saturated the soil. 连绵不断的雨把土地淋了个透。
• a saturated solution of sodium chloride 氯化钠饱和溶液

4 shunning   

v.避开，回避，避免( shun的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• My flight was more a shunning of external and internal dangers. 我的出走是要避开各种外在的和内在的威胁。 来自辞典例句
• That book Yeh-yeh gave me-"On Filial Piety and the Shunning of Lewdness"-was still on the table. 我坐下来，祖父给我的那本《刘芷唐先生教孝戒淫浅训》还在桌子上。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）