Carmakers Compete to Improve Electric Vehicles
汽车制造商竞相提升电动汽车
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.
美国及其它国家的汽车制造商正在设法制造和改进一种叫做电动轴或电子驱动的技术。这项技术正迅速成为汽车行业相互竞争的领域。
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.
电动轴（或者：电动汽车驱动）系统连接着电动汽车的齿轮、马达和电源控制设备。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。它还可以帮助电动汽车找回停车时失去的能量。
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，精心设计的电动轴可以提高车辆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.
这种技术已经成为具有竞争性的领域，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。其目标是让电动汽车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.
新技术的进步对减少二氧化碳等污染物的措施也非常重要。
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，汽车排放的二氧化碳占所有排放源的17%左右。她就职于华盛顿的国际清洁交通委员会。
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体积更大、污染更严重的运动型多用途车，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的变化——越来越多的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轴。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轴市场的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.
永守重信曾表示，他认为要想成为电动轴市场领导者，就必须降低这项技术的成本。他说，实现这一目标的方法是能够生产电动驱动系统所用到的每个零件。
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轴系统。日本的电装公司(Denso)和爱信公司(Aisin)在2019年成立了一家名为BluE Nexus的集团。今年，美国零件供应商博格华纳公司（BorgeWarner）同意收购总部位于英国的德尔福公司(Delphi)，日本日立汽车公司(Hitachi Automotive)与本田集团(Honda group)的三家供应商联手。汽车制造商大众(Volkswagen)、福特(Ford)、丰田(Toyota)以及一些日本小品牌都在各自组建技术机构，部分原因就是为了降低电动轴的制造成本。
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（Tesla）开发了自己的电动轴技术。但据路透社报道，目前尚不清楚该公司是否会继续在最新型的特斯拉车型上使用这种技术。
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(General Motors)、日产Nissan)等汽车制造商认为，电动轴提供了一个巨大的增长空间，因此这些汽车制造商们都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，通用汽车公司认为自己可以更好地将电动轴与电池以及车辆其余部件结合在一起，从而实现驾驶起来更加安静和平稳，驾驶成本也更低。
I'm John Russell.
约翰·罗素为你报道。
