Infrastructure is Challenge for Electric Vehicle Owners

Auto¹ experts say electric vehicles are a practical alternative to gasoline-powered cars, at least for some drivers. The biggest challenge for the auto industry is expanding the infrastructure² for recharging the vehicles.
With last year's release of the Chevy Volt³ and the Nissan Leaf, some say the day of the electric vehicle has arrived.? The Volt uses a rechargeable battery, and for additional range, can switch to a small gasoline engine to recharge the battery. The Leaf is an all-electric vehicle that is designed for short commutes⁴.
But electric cars have been around a long time. They have been available to compete with gasoline-powered vehicles for decades, and were once a significant part of the market.
One that looks like a horse-drawn buggy is on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. It was built in Los Angeles by a high school student, Earle Anthony, in 1897. Many other electric cars were on American roads in the early 20th century.? But gasoline-powered autos had a greater range and came to dominate.
In 1996, General Motors released the limited-production electric EV-1 to wide acclaim⁵, and curator Leslie Kendall of the Petersen Museum says drivers liked it.
"And it looked cool, no doubt about it," said Kendall. "And in the major American markets that it was tested, people got to see it and really responded favorably. And it performed beautifully."
But the EV-1 was expensive to produce and had a limited range. The last model was produced in 1999.
Today's electric vehicles have solved some of the earlier problems, but Edward Kjaer of Southern California Edison, an electric utility company, says charging stations are hard to find outside of major cities like Los Angeles.
"There is no question that we need to focus on the distribution level, so that's really the last 50 feet of the energy delivery system, because we're going to see geographic⁶ concentrations of these vehicles," said Kjaer.
New charging stations are being installed in some businesses and at the homes of many electric vehicle owners.? The company AeroVironment has partnered with Nissan to install chargers for its all-electric Leaf, using a system compatible with other electric vehicles under a new North America standard. AeroVironment's Kristen Helsel says the technology is spreading.
"Everywhere from Australia to Europe, Canada, Brazil, across the Pacific Rim⁷, there's almost nowhere we're not going - India, places like that," said Helsel. "You know, those are all places that have a really strong interest in vehicle electrification⁸."
Electric-gasoline hybrid⁹ cars, including Toyota's Prius, are popular with drivers who are concerned with environmental pollution and rising gasoline costs. But hybrids¹⁰ are a small part of the market, says analyst¹¹ Karl Bauer of the automotive research firm Edmunds.com.
"The traditional gasoline engines, of course, are still what power most vehicles, so of course they make up most of the research that people do," said Bauer. "The hybrid market has remained somewhere between two and three percent, really, for the last five-plus years, so it's still a very small amount. And of course the pure electric market is much smaller than that."
The biggest problem is limited range. Nissan says its all-electric Leaf can travel 160 kilometers on a single charge in city driving. The Chevy Volt, which can switch to gasoline, can go much farther. Bauer says batteries are improving and other ideas have been suggested to extend the range of the vehicles.
"There are a couple of different approaches, whether it's utilizing¹² batteries that swap¹³ out quickly and you go to a corner charging station and instead of waiting an hour or five hours to charge the car, you spend five minutes, 10 minutes, having the batteries swapped¹⁴ out," Bauer explained. "That's one thing they've talked about as a future solution."
Other technologies, including non-polluting hydrogen fuel cells, are also being tested by the major automakers to power the electric drive trains of new vehicles.
Electric cars may one day meet the needs of consumers faced with rising fuel costs, says the Petersen Museum's Leslie Kendall.
"They seem to want a vehicle that's powered by a renewable resource, a vehicle that does not pollute the air, a vehicle with fewer moving parts that's simpler to operate and run, a vehicle that's quieter and smoother and all those good things," noted¹⁵ Kendall.
With expanding infrastructure, he says electric vehicles may look more and more attractive.

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 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。

3 volt   

n.伏特，伏

参考例句：

• You may use 100 and 110 volt appliances in your room.您可以在房间使用100及110伏特的电器。
• The common service voltage of electric power in our country is 220/380 volt.我国普通供电电压为220/380伏。

4 commutes   

上下班路程( commute的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She commutes from Oxford to London every day. 她每天上下班往返于牛津与伦敦之间。
• Barbara lives in Oxford and commutes. 芭芭拉住在牛津，通勤往来。

5 acclaim   

v.向…欢呼，公认；n.欢呼，喝彩，称赞

参考例句：

• He was welcomed with great acclaim.他受到十分热烈的欢迎。
• His achievements earned him the acclaim of the scientific community.他的成就赢得了科学界的赞誉。

6 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

7 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

8 electrification   

n.充电，电气化；起电；电化；带电

参考例句：

• Electrification of the countryside--yes, that, too, is impressive. 是的。农村电气化也是了不起的事。 来自演讲部分
• After electrification, it will readily stick to a wall or a ceiling. 起电后，它立即吸附到墙壁上或天花板上。 来自辞典例句

9 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

10 hybrids   

n.杂交生成的生物体( hybrid的名词复数 )；杂交植物（或动物）；杂种；（不同事物的）混合物

参考例句：

• All these brightly coloured hybrids are so lovely in the garden. 花园里所有这些色彩鲜艳的杂交花真美丽。 来自辞典例句
• The notion that interspecific hybrids are rare is ill-founded. 有一种看法认为种间杂种是罕见的，这种看法是无根据的。 来自辞典例句

11 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

12 utilizing   

v.利用，使用( utilize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Utilizing an assembler to produce a machine-language program. 用汇编程序产生机器语言的过程。 来自辞典例句
• The study and use of devices utilizing properties of materials near absolute zero in temperature. 对材料在接近绝对零度时的特性进行研究和利用的学科。 来自辞典例句

13 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。

14 swapped   

交换（工作）( swap的过去式和过去分词 )； 用…替换，把…换成，掉换（过来）

参考例句：

• I liked her coat and she liked mine, so we swapped. 我喜欢她的外套，她喜欢我的外套，于是我们就交换了。
• At half-time the manager swapped some of the players around. 经理在半场时把几名队员换下了场。

15 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。