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Carmakers Compete to Improve Electric Vehicles

汽车制造商竞相提升电动汽车

By John Russell
18 October 2020

Carmakers from the United States and other countries are thinking about ways to manufacture and improve a technology called an e-axle or e-drive. This technology is fast becoming an area of competition in the automobile industry.
美国等国的汽车制造商正在想办法制造和改进一种名为电动车桥或电动传动系统的技术。这种技术正迅速成为汽车行业互相竞争的关键领域。

The e-axle, or e-drive, joins an electric vehicle's gear, motor, and power-control electronics. It is the "brain" that controls how a vehicle uses energy stored in its battery. This "brain" turns that energy into power. It also helps get back energy lost when stopping the vehicle.
电动车桥或电动传动系统连接着电动汽车的齿轮、电动机和功率控制设备。它是控制车辆如何使用电池中所存储能量的“大脑。”这个“大脑”将电能转换为动力。它还有助于电动汽车在刹车时回收能量。

In other words, a well-designed e-axle increases a vehicle's power efficiency and ability to change speeds. It also helps extend the vehicle's driving range and its smoothness.
换句话说，精心设计的电动车桥可以提高汽车的动力效率和变速能力。它还有助于延长车辆的行驶距离以及改善行驶平稳性。

The technology has become a competitive area, in part, because automakers are under pressure to cut electric vehicles' manufacturing costs. The goal is to make them cost as much as cars powered by gasoline.
这种技术已经成为竞争的关键领域，部分原因是汽车制造商承受着削减电动汽车制造成本的压力。目标是让它们的成本与燃油驱动汽车接近。

Progress in new technologies is also important for efforts to cut pollution, including carbon dioxide, also known as CO2.
新技术的进步还对减少二氧化碳等污染物的措施非常重要。

Vehicle-based CO2 emissions are responsible for about 17% of emissions from all sources, says Zifei Yang. She is with the International Council on Clean Transportation in Washington.
杨梓菲（音译）表示，车辆的二氧化碳排放量占到了全部来源排放量的17%。她在华盛顿国际清洁运输委员会任职。

Yang noted that the reduction in vehicle emissions has slowed as more people drive bigger, more polluting sports utility vehicles. Other industry experts point to changes in countries such as China and India, where more people are buying and using cars.
杨梓菲指出，随着越来越多人驾驶更大、污染更严重的运动型多功能汽车，减少车辆排放的速度已经放缓。其它行业专家指出中国和印度等国正在发生变化，更多人开始购买和驾驶汽车。

In recent years, the Japanese business Nidec has turned its attention to automobiles and e-axles. Shigenobu Nagamori is the company's founder.
近年来，日本企业尼得科已经将重心转向了汽车和电动车桥。永守重信是该公司的创始人。

Nagamori says he wants Nidec to control up to 35% of the world's e-axle market by the year 2030. That market could be worth $20- to 30-billion a year by then, up from an estimated $2.8 to $3 billion today.
永守重信表示，他希望尼得科在2030年前能够控制全球电动车桥市场的35%。届时这一市场的价值可能会从现在估算的每年28亿到30亿美元，上升至200亿到300亿美元之间。

Nagamori has said he believes the way to become a market leader in e-axles is to reduce the cost for the technology. The way to do that, he said, is by being able to produce every part that goes into an e-drive system.
永守重信说过，他相信成为电动车桥市场领导者到办法就是降低这项技术的成本。他说，实现这一点的办法是能够生产电动传动系统的每个零件。

Some automotive technology suppliers are working together to manufacture e-axle systems. Japan's Denso and Aisin formed a group called BluE Nexus in 2019. This year, U.S. parts supplier BorgeWarner agreed to purchase Britain-based Delphi, and Japan's Hitachi Automotive joined with three Honda group suppliers. Automakers Volkswagen, Ford, Toyota and smaller Japanese brands are each making technology groups in part to drive down e-axle manufacturing costs.
一些汽车技术供应商正在合作开发电动车桥系统。日本的电装公司和爱信公司在2019年成立了一家名为BluE Nexus的机构。今年，美国零件供应商博格华纳公司同意收购总部位于英国的德尔福公司，日本日立汽车公司与3家本田集团供应商联手。汽车制造商大众、福特、丰田以及一些日本小品牌各自组建技术机构，部分原因就是为了降低电动车桥的制造成本。

Electric car maker Tesla developed its own e-axle technology. But it is unclear whether the company continues to use it in more recent Tesla models, noted Reuters news agency.
电动汽车制造商特斯拉公司开发了自己的电动车桥技术。据路透社报道，目前尚不清楚该公司是否会继续在最新型的特斯拉汽车中使用这种技术。

General Motors, or GM, Nissan and some other carmakers believe e-axles offer such a large area for growth that they want to design and manufacture their own systems.
通用、日产等汽车制造商认为，电动车桥提供了巨大的增长空间，它们希望设计和制造自己的系统。

GM believes it can better join the e-axle with the battery and the rest of the vehicle, making for a quieter, smoother and more economical drive, said the company's Adam Kwiatkowski.
通用汽车的亚当·科维特科夫斯基表示，通用汽车认为它可以更好地将电动车桥与电池以及车辆其余部件结合在一起，从而使行驶更加安静、平稳和经济。

I'm John Russell.
我是约翰·罗素。

Words in This Story

gear – n. a set of wheels that work together to affect the relation between the speed of a moving vehicle and the speed driven parts

battery – n. a device that is placed inside a machine to supply it with electricity

efficiency – n. the ability to do something or produce something without wasting materials, time, or energy

range – n. the distance within which something can be reached

gasoline – n. a liquid fuel used to power motor vehicles

emission – n. the act of producing or sending out something (such as energy or gas); something sent out or given off

source – n. a place or thing from which something comes

brand – n. a model or kind of product

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