Ford Abandons Electric Vehicles
The Ford motor company’s1 abandonment of electric cars effectively signals the end of the road for the technology, analysts say.
General Motors2 and Honda3 ceased production of battery-powered cars in 1999, to focus on fuel cell4 and hybrid electric gasoline engines5, which are more attractive to the consumer. Ford has now announced it will do the same.
Three years ago, the company introduced the Think City two-seater car and a golf cart called the THINK or Think Neighhor6. It hoped to sell 5,000 cars each year and 10,000 carts. But a lack of demand means only about 1,000 of the cars have been produced, and less than 1,700 carts have been sold so far in 2002.
“The bottom line7 is we don’t believe that this is the future of environment transport for the mass market,” Tim Holmes of Ford Europe said on Friday. “We feel we have given electric our best shot8.” The Think City has a range of only about 53 miles and up to a six-hour battery recharge time. General Motors’ EVI electric vehicle also had a limited range, of about 100 miles.
The very expensive batteries also mean electric cars cost much more than petrol-powered alternatives. An electric Toyota9 RAV4 EV vehicle costs over $42,000 in the US, compared with just $17,000 for the petrol version. Toyota and Nissan10 are now the only major auto manufacturers to produce electric vehicles.
“There is a feeling that battery electric has been given its chance. Ford now has to move on with its hybrid program11, and that is what we will be judging them on,” Roger Higman, a senior transport campaigner at UK Friends of the Earth, told the Environment News Service.
Hybrid cars introduced by Toyota and Honda in the past few years have sold well. Hybrid engines offer greater mileage than petrol-only engines, and the batteries recharge themselves. Ford says it thinks such vehicles will help it meet planned new guidelines12 on vehicle emissions13 in the US.
However t it is not yet clear exactly what those guidelines will permit. In June, General Motors and Daimler Chrysler14 won a court injunction, delaying by two years Californian legislation requiring car-makers to offer 100,000 zero-emission and other low-emission vehicles in the state by 2003. Car manufacturers hope the legislation will be rewritten to allow for more low-emission, rather than zero-emission, vehicles. 詞匯: hybrid / 5haibrid/n.雜種，混合物 adj.雜種 injunction / in5dVQNkFEn/n.命令；指令mileage / 5maIlIdV/n.英里數(shù)，英里里程 注釋:
1. The Ford motor company:福特汽車公司。 Henry Ford (1863--1947)美國汽車制造商，他改進(jìn)了以汽油為燃料的汽車，成立了福特汽車公司 (1903年)，并大量生產(chǎn)昀早的大眾負(fù)擔(dān)得起且廣泛使用的 T型車。
2. General Motors:美國通用汽車公司
3. Honda:日本本田汽車公司
4. fuel cell:燃料電池，一種化學(xué)電池。
5. hybrid electric gasoline engines:電池和內(nèi)燃機(jī)混雜使用的發(fā)動機(jī)，使用這種發(fā)動機(jī)的汽車被稱為 : Hybrid electric vehicles，或 HEVs。
6. … the company introduced the Think City two-seater car and a golf cart called the THINK, or Think Neighbor:福特汽車公司計劃在公司內(nèi)開發(fā)一種全新的品牌，建立了 Think Group.該研究機(jī)構(gòu)分為兩部分 : Think Mobility和 Think Technologies。Think Mobility開發(fā) the Think City (一種電動汽車 )，Think Neighbor (一種高爾夫車 )，以及 Think Bike (一種電動自行車 )。Think Technologies開發(fā)燃料電池技術(shù)。
7. The bottom line is:在此的意思是“ the main or essential point”，即“關(guān)鍵之處是，實(shí)質(zhì)問題是”。
8. shot: an attempt, a try (嘗試)。
9. Toyota:日本豐田汽車公司
10. Nissan:日本日產(chǎn)汽車公司
11. hybrid program:指上文提到的電池和內(nèi)燃機(jī)混雜使用的新型汽車開發(fā)項目。
12. guideline:指導(dǎo)方針，規(guī)定
13. vehicle emissions:車輛排放物
14. Daintier Chrysler:戴姆勒克萊斯勒汽車公司。德國戴姆勒·奔馳公司集團(tuán)與克萊斯勒汽車公司合并。練習(xí):
1. What have the Ford motor company, General Motor’s and Honda done concerning electric cars? A They have started to produce electric cars. B They have done extensive research on electric cars. C They have given up producing electric cars. D They have produced thousands of electric cars.
2. According to Tim Holmes of Ford Europe, battery-powered cars A will be the main transportation vehicles in the future. B will not be the main transportation vehicles in the future. C will be good to the environment in the future. D will replace petrol-powered vehicles in the future.
3. Which auto manufacturers are still producing electric vehicles? A Toyota and Nissan. B General Motor’s and Honda. C Ford and Toyota. D Honda and Toyata.
4. According to the eighth paragraph, hybrid cars A offer fewer mileage than petrol driven cars. B run faster than petrol driven cars. C run more miles than petrol driven cars. D offer more batteries than petrol driven cars.
5. Which of the following is true about the hope of car manufacturers according to the last paragraph?
A Low-emission cars should be banned.
B Only zero-emission cars are allowed to run on motorways.
C The legislation will encourage car makers to produce more electric cars.
D The legislation will allow more low-emission to be produced.
答案與題解 :
1. C 第一段第一個句子告訴我們福特汽車公司放棄了電動汽年，第二段說通運(yùn)汽年公司和本田汽車公司停止生產(chǎn)電動汽車。
2. B 第四段第一個句子是 Tim Holmes對電動汽車未來的評價，他認(rèn)為未來的交通運(yùn)輸?shù)拇蟊娛袌霾豢赡苁请妱悠嚒?BR> 3. A 答案的依據(jù)是第六段昀后一句。
4. C答案的依據(jù)是倒數(shù)第二段第二句。
5. D 答案的依據(jù)是文意的昀后一句 : the legislation will be rewritten to allow for more lowemission. rather than zero-emission, vehicles。