關(guān)于運輸?shù)挠⒄Z文章閱讀
汽車產(chǎn)業(yè)是現(xiàn)代經(jīng)濟(jì)當(dāng)之無愧的主導(dǎo)產(chǎn)業(yè)和支柱產(chǎn)業(yè)之一,汽車產(chǎn)業(yè)的投入產(chǎn)出,將對整個工業(yè)發(fā)展產(chǎn)生雙倍的帶動作用。下面是學(xué)習(xí)啦小編帶來的關(guān)于運輸?shù)挠⒄Z文章閱讀，歡迎閱讀!
關(guān)于運輸?shù)挠⒄Z文章閱讀篇一
Carmakers
汽車制造商
Revenge of the petrolheads
燃油車贏得先機
Fossil-fuel cars are getting much cleaner, making life hard for green ones
燃油汽車越來越環(huán)保了，環(huán)保汽車日子難過了
THE Chevrolet Volt, a compact, petrol-electric hybrid launched by GM a year ago, was already selling poorly before it emerged last month that its batteries had caught fire in crash tests.
雪佛蘭新款車型沃藍(lán)達(dá)結(jié)構(gòu)緊湊，是由通用汽車公司在一年前推出的一款混合動力車，上個月它的電池在碰撞試驗中起火，但在此之前它的銷售很不理想。
GM is likely to fall several thousand short of its target of selling 10,000 Volts this year.
通用汽車對沃藍(lán)達(dá)首年銷售目標(biāo)一萬輛，預(yù)計可能要低售數(shù)千輛。
Despite subsidies, electric cars and hybrids (which can run off batteries or a generator powered by an engine) are shifting sluggishly.
盡管有一定政府補貼，電動車和混合動力車的換代很緩慢(混合動力：當(dāng)電池和發(fā)電機沒電時，可以由汽油發(fā)動機驅(qū)動。)
The Volt's battery problem should be fairly easy to fix.
沃藍(lán)達(dá)的電池問題應(yīng)該很容易解決。
But the profusion of hybrid and all-electric cars now hitting the roads faces a far bigger challenge.
但大量混合動力和電動汽車在其前進(jìn)的道路上面臨著更大的挑戰(zhàn)。
Petrol- and diesel-engined vehicles are becoming much more fuel-efficient.
汽油和柴油動力車將變得更加省油。
That means motorists will remain reluctant to pay a fat premium for a green car.
這意味著駕駛者不愿多花錢來買綠色環(huán)保汽車。
Reprints Between now and 2025 regulators in Europe, America and elsewhere plan to impose ever greater curbs on cars' emissions of carbon dioxide (or higher fuel efficiency, which has much the same effect).
從現(xiàn)在到2025年，在歐美和其他地區(qū)的監(jiān)管機構(gòu)對汽車的二氧化碳排放將出臺更高限制的新標(biāo)準(zhǔn)(或要求更高的燃油效率，其限制結(jié)果是一樣的)。
This is forcing carmakers to invest both in developing electrics and hybrids and in making the conventional engine cleaner.
這迫使汽車制造商加大電動和混合動力汽車研發(fā)投入，或使傳統(tǒng)發(fā)動機更高清潔。
Ricardo, an engineering consultancy, and Sanford C. Bernstein, an investment bank, have crunched a bunch of numbers on the technology race between conventional and green vehicles.
里卡多工程咨詢公司，和Sanford C. Bernstein投資銀行，匯總處理了傳統(tǒng)和綠色汽車技術(shù)競賽中的不少數(shù)據(jù)。
They conclude that petrol and diesel cars will keep closing the emissions gap (see chart), while hybrids and, especially, electrics, will be more expensive to own for years to come.
他們得出結(jié)論說，汽油和柴油汽車的排放量將越來越接近(見圖表)，而混合動力車、特別是電動車，將在今后幾年更為昂貴。
The internal-combustion engine will still be king of the road in the early 2020s, when only a fifth of cars sold in Europe will be hybrid or electric.
在21世紀(jì)20年代初，燃油車仍將是路上行駛車輛的主宰，歐洲銷售的汽車中只有五分之一是混合動力或電動的。
America's regulators are only now getting tough on fuel efficiency, so its cars are guzzling as much petrol as they did 20 years ago. However, in Europe, which got strict sooner and where fuel is heavily taxed, petrol and diesel vehicles have become much cleaner.
因為美國監(jiān)管局到現(xiàn)在才對汽車燃油效率的要求變的越來越嚴(yán)，所以美國的汽車和20年前的一樣，依然是"油老虎"。但在歐洲燃油稅很高，加油也得到了限制，汽油和柴油車已比以往干凈多了。
The average new car sold in Britain now does 52.5 miles per gallon, up from 40.6mpg ten years ago.
現(xiàn)在英國出售的新車平均每加侖汽油跑52.5英里，比十年前40.6英里已經(jīng)大大提高。
Even so, says Neville Jackson of Ricardo, there remains much scope for improvement: petrol and diesel cars still typically use less than a fifth of the energy stored in their fuel to turn the wheels.
即便如此，內(nèi)維爾?杰克遜的里卡多說，仍然有很大的改進(jìn)空間：汽油和柴油汽車通常只能將不到五分之一的燃料能量轉(zhuǎn)換為車輪扭矩。
Plenty more miles can be squeezed out of each gallon. It is simply a matter of cost.
每加侖油事實上可以支撐行駛更多的里程，這僅僅是一個成本問題。
To meet a series of deadlines to cut emissions, carmakers are putting into their cheaper models all sorts of gear hither to mostly seen on pricey high-performance cars:
要滿足一系列減排標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的最后期限，汽車制造商正把過去用在高性能汽車上的配置使用到他們的廉價車型中：
turbochargers and superchargers (which mean the engine can be smaller and more fuel-efficient), fancy fuel-injection systems and valve trains; grilles with variable aerodynamics, and so on.
渦輪增壓器、增壓機(這意味著發(fā)動機可以更小、油耗更低)，花式燃油噴射系統(tǒng)和氣閥機構(gòu);氣動格柵，等等。
Next year Ford will offer a new Focus compact car in Europe, with a one-litre, three-cylinder engine that performs as well as the 1.6 litre, four-cylinder engine it replaces, yet uses about 20% less fuel.
明年福特將在歐洲亮出一個緊湊型轎車的新焦點 —— 設(shè)計1升三缸發(fā)動機，其性能可與1.6升四缸發(fā)動機相媲美，但可節(jié)省20%左右的燃料。
Joe Bakaj, an engineer at Ford, says that even American buyers of the company's F-150 pickups, who would normally scoff at anything with less than a V8 engine, are switching to a new V6 version that performs at least as well but drinks less fuel.
福特的工程師喬?拜卡杰說他們的車型F–150，美國的買手選擇了V6發(fā)動機，以往這些人往往對小于V8的發(fā)動機不屑一顧，但至少現(xiàn)在改換到V6發(fā)動機能省下不少油耗。
The analysis by Ricardo and Bernstein shows the carmakers are in a tight spot: given motorists' aversion to the cost of electrics and hybrids, the quickest route towards meeting the deadlines for cutting emissions is to invest heavily in cleaning up their petrol and diesel cars.
里卡多和伯恩斯坦的分析顯示，汽車制造商都在捏一把汗：基于駕駛者購買電動混合動力汽車仍有較大的成本壓力，他們必須以最快的路線在截止日期前達(dá)到排放標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，這意味著必須大量投入研制開發(fā)使汽油柴油車輛的排放更加清潔。
But to squeak past the finishing line they will still need a small proportion of hybrids and electrics.
即使勉強達(dá)到排放標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，他們?nèi)匀恍枰”壤幕旌蟿恿碗妱悠嚒?/p>
So they will have to keep spending on designing these, without their reaching a level of sales that will make them profitable.
因此他們只能持續(xù)投入設(shè)計這些混合動力和電動汽車，即便這些車型的銷售規(guī)模達(dá)不到盈利水平。
Stefanie Lang of Bernstein says this will force carmakers to work together on developing new technology: Toyota, for example, has agreed to work with Ford on hybrid sport-utility vehicles and with BMW on both electric batteries and diesel engines.
伯恩斯坦的斯黛芬尼?朗說，這將迫使汽車制造商共同開發(fā)新技術(shù)：例如，豐田已同意與福特聯(lián)合研制混合動力運動型多用途車，并和寶馬聯(lián)合研制電動電池和柴油發(fā)動機。
Carmakers are also dabbling in battery leasing (Renault) and car-sharing (Daimler) as they seek ways to persuade motorists that electric cars are affordable.
汽車制造商也涉足電池租賃(雷諾)和汽車共享(戴姆勒)，因為他們必須設(shè)法說服駕駛者：他們是負(fù)擔(dān)得起電動汽車。
Hybrids and electrics will be a drag on carmakers' profits for years.
復(fù)合動力和電驅(qū)動車輛將在今后幾年拖低汽車制造商的利潤。
But they are a useful marketing tool.
但它們是一個有用的營銷工具。
GM has found that adding the hybrid Volt (pictured) to its model range is enticing into its showrooms the sort of young urban buyers who normally ignore Detroit-made cars.
通用發(fā)現(xiàn)在車型中增加了沃藍(lán)達(dá)后，那些通常對底特律汽車無視的都市年輕人也被吸引到GM的展室了。
Many balk at the Volt's ,000 price (after a generous government subsidy), but some end up driving away in a petrol-engined car like the Cruze, costing around half as much.
但他們中不少人對其32,000美元的價格望而生畏(盡管政府已經(jīng)慷慨地補貼了不少)，結(jié)果他們中一些人還是選擇了汽油發(fā)動機車輛，比如科魯茲，其價格只有沃藍(lán)達(dá)的一半。
關(guān)于運輸?shù)挠⒄Z文章閱讀篇二
為何電動汽車市場晦暗無光
Even for a foreign visitor to Shanghai, renting an electric car is easy. All that's required is a validdriver's license and a passport. And it's surprisingly cheap: eHi Car Service Ltd. charges theequivalent of just a day for a Chinese-built Roewe with a range of about 90 kilometers.
就連外國游客都能在上海輕而易舉地租輛電動汽車，只需要一張有效駕照和一張護(hù)照。而且租金還出奇地便宜：一嗨汽車租賃有限公司(eHi Car Service Ltd.)一輛續(xù)航里程90公里的國產(chǎn)榮威(Roewe)租金僅相當(dāng)于25美元/天。
But having completed the paperwork, picked up the keys and eased silently into Shanghai'schaotic traffic, the first-time electric car driver in the city quickly notices that nobody elseappears to be driving one. In fact, there are at most 500 electric cars in Shanghai out of a totalof about one million passenger vehicles, according to Zhang Dawei, the founder of EV Buy, aShanghai company that sources and services electric cars for individuals and corporate users.
但在填完表格、拿到鑰匙、悠然加入到上海車流之中后，你很快就會發(fā)現(xiàn)，似乎別人沒有開電動汽車的。事實上，高瞻電動車(EV Buy)創(chuàng)始人張大偉說，在上海的大約100萬乘用車保有量中，電動汽車頂多只有500輛。高瞻電動車是一家上海公司，面向個人和企業(yè)用戶提供電動汽車經(jīng)銷、配套服務(wù)等業(yè)務(wù)。
In fairness, electric cars have met consumer resistance everywhere, not just in China.Carmakers around the world have struggled to improve battery technology. Still, Shanghai'sdismal failure to popularize electric vehicles, despite a national auto policy to go electric--andgenerous subsidies for consumers--speaks to the immense challenges that China's leadersface in rolling out an ambitious program of economic overhauls approved at a Communist Partymeeting this month. Those policies are intended to encourage innovation that leads tohigher-quality and more sustainable growth driven by consumption--precisely the logic behindChina's drive to build an electric car industry.
平心而論，電動汽車在全球各地都遭遇了消費阻力，不止是在中國。全球汽車制造商都在竭力提高電池技術(shù)。盡管中國汽車政策的方向是推廣電動汽車，而且還為消費者提供慷慨補貼，但上海普及電動汽車的努力還是遭遇了挫敗，這體現(xiàn)出中國領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人在貫徹三中全會經(jīng)濟(jì)改革方面面臨的巨大挑戰(zhàn)。經(jīng)濟(jì)改革的目標(biāo)是鼓勵創(chuàng)新，并以此實現(xiàn)高質(zhì)量的、更加可持續(xù)的消費驅(qū)動型增長模式，而這正是中國打造電動汽車行業(yè)計劃的初衷。
More than a decade ago, state industrial planners seized upon electric cars as the answer to aset of industrial, environmental and national-security dilemmas. Developing electric cars, theplanners thought, would enable China to leapfrog the world's leading manufacturers ofcombustion engine vehicles, who China otherwise could never hope to challenge. It would alsoreduce China's rapidly growing dependence on imported oil, which leaves the world's second-largest economy vulnerable to destabilizing supply shocks. And it would mitigate chronicpollution in Chinese cities.
十多年前，國家工業(yè)規(guī)劃部門把電動汽車當(dāng)做解決工業(yè)、環(huán)境、國家安全等一系列問題的鑰匙。規(guī)劃者們認(rèn)為，發(fā)展電動汽車將使中國另辟蹊徑、不必再糾纏于內(nèi)燃機汽車領(lǐng)域，中國遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不是國際先進(jìn)內(nèi)燃機汽車廠商的對手。另外，發(fā)展電動汽車還可使中國降低對進(jìn)口石油日益嚴(yán)重的依賴，這種依賴令中國很容易受到供應(yīng)震蕩的威脅。同時，中國城市長期污染的問題也將得到緩解。
In the West, many assumed that these policy imperatives, combined with China's vauntedprowess at rolling out transport infrastructure--as well as government ownership of thecountry's big carmakers--would assure the success of the national push for electric vehicles.China, it was widely thought, had the chance to lead the world in an emerging technology,while pioneering a more sustainable urban growth model. Even Warren Buffett took a stake inShenzhen-based battery and electric carmaker BYD in 2008.
西方國家很多人認(rèn)為，考慮到中國的這些政策規(guī)定，再加上中國在交通基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施建設(shè)方面的高歌猛進(jìn)，以及大型汽車制造商的國有性質(zhì)，中國推動電動汽車發(fā)展的戰(zhàn)略必將取得成功。外界曾經(jīng)廣泛地認(rèn)為，在探索更具可持續(xù)性的城鎮(zhèn)化增長模式的同時，中國將有可能引領(lǐng)全球新興科技的潮流。就連巴菲特(Warren Buffett)也在2008年入股總部位于深圳的電池和電動汽車生產(chǎn)商比亞迪(BYD)。
But China's electric car strategy hasn't worked out. Why?
但中國的電動汽車戰(zhàn)略并未取得成效。這是為什么呢?
First, state planners badly miscalculated consumer demand. The wealthy elite have little interestin buying an electric car to flaunt their concern for the environment: For them, a car is still theprized marker of wealth and social status. The less well off, particularly first-time car buyers,who constitute the vast majority of car buyers in China, aspire to the thrill and freedom of theroad--and a limited driving range is a turn-off.
首先，國家規(guī)劃部門嚴(yán)重誤估了消費需求。富裕階層對購買電動汽車、標(biāo)榜自己的環(huán)保意識興趣不大：對他們來說，汽車仍是財富與社會地位的標(biāo)志。而對經(jīng)濟(jì)條件較差的人群，特別是占絕大多數(shù)的初次購車者來說，他們渴求的是駕車上路的那種興奮、自由的感覺，電動汽車?yán)m(xù)航里程的限制是一個致命弱點。
On the supply side, state carmakers dropped the ball, says Greg Anderson, a U.S.-based autoindustry consultant and the author of the book 'Designated Drivers: How China Plans toDominate the Global Auto Industry.' The incentive for state auto firms isn't to innovate, but'to get as big as possible, as fast as possible, and make as much money as possible,' he says.That's best achieved by milking their existing joint ventures with foreign auto makers ratherthan sinking resources into new technologies.
美國的汽車行業(yè)咨詢師、《代駕司機：中國如何計劃占領(lǐng)全球汽車市場》(Designated Drivers: How ChinaPlans to Dominate the Global Auto Industry)一書的作者Greg Anderson說，在供應(yīng)方面，中國國有汽車制造商犯了一個錯誤，它們的動機不是創(chuàng)新，而是盡可能快地做大，賺盡可能多的錢。它們一心利用與海外汽車廠商組建的現(xiàn)有合資企業(yè)賺錢，而不是投入資源進(jìn)行技術(shù)革新。
State carmakers all paid lip service to the government's electric car strategy by coming up withworking models, says Mr. Anderson. But they failed to deliver breakthroughs in coretechnologies, including batteries and battery management systems. So today, while hundredsof combustion engine car models compete in the world's largest car market, there are only ahandful of electric vehicles in production for consumers to choose from.
Anderson表示，對于中國政府發(fā)展電動汽車的戰(zhàn)略，國有汽車廠商往往通過設(shè)計一些模型來敷衍了事。在電池和電池管理系統(tǒng)等核心技術(shù)方面，它們都未能取得突破。因此在中國這個全球最大的汽車市場，現(xiàn)在雖然有上百種內(nèi)燃發(fā)動機汽車，卻只有少數(shù)幾種已經(jīng)投產(chǎn)的電動汽車可供消費者選擇。
For its part, the government failed to deliver the infrastructure. According to China's currentfive-year plan--a holdover strategy from the Stalinist economy--there are supposed to bemore than 400,000 charging piles nationwide by 2015. But in today's Shanghai, a city of 24million people, only 1,000-2,000 have so far been installed, says Mr. Zhang of EV Buy--far offthe pace required to help China achieve its goals.
從政府這方面來講，它沒有做到給市場發(fā)展提供完善的基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施。根據(jù)當(dāng)前的“十二五”規(guī)劃，到2015年中國將建成超過40萬個充電樁。但是高瞻電動車的張大偉說，在擁有2,400萬人口的上海，目前只建成了1,000-2,000個充電樁，遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)達(dá)不到實現(xiàn)“十二五”目標(biāo)的速度。
Bureaucratic infighting partly explains the inertia in developing the industry. For example, StateGrid Corp, the near-monopoly grid operator, has been pushing to own the battery market bypromoting a national battery swapping system for car owners, says Axel Krieger, a principal inthe Beijing office of McKinsey & Co. That arrangement would give it a large part of theindustrial value chain, but is resisted by car manufacturers, who want to use their ownbatteries.
官僚斗爭也是造成電動汽車行業(yè)發(fā)展緩慢的一個原因。比如，麥肯錫(McKinsey & Co., Inc.)北京分公司的管理人士柯明逸(Axel Krieger)就指出，國家電網(wǎng)公司(State Grid Corporation of China)通過推進(jìn)構(gòu)建覆蓋全國的智能充換電服務(wù)網(wǎng)絡(luò)，希望藉此控制電池市場。這種模式將使國家電網(wǎng)占據(jù)行業(yè)價值鏈的一大部分，但遭到了電動汽車廠商的抵制，后者希望使用自己的電池。
In addition, local governments have been promoting their own technical standards as aprotectionist measure to support local car makers. It's hard to drive an electric car from onecity to another when plugs aren't compatible. 'Every local warlord defends their own standardsand technologies,' says Mr. Krieger.
另外，地方政府一直在推行自己的技術(shù)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，作為扶持本地汽車廠商的一種保護(hù)措施。在充電器插頭不兼容的情況下，電動汽車很難從一個城市開到另一個城市?？旅饕菡f，每個地方政府都在保護(hù)自己的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)和技術(shù)。
Finally, foreign auto makers have been scared away by government attempts to force them tohand over their intellectual property in electric vehicles in exchange for market access.
最后，中國政府要求外國汽車廠商交出電動汽車知識產(chǎn)權(quán)以換取市場準(zhǔn)入的做法也嚇跑了許多外國廠商。
The upshot of all this is that China is hopelessly behind on its target for electric car ownership.The five-year plan calls for 500,000 battery-electric and plug-in electric vehicles by 2015, andfive million by 2020. But last year, Chinese consumers bought only 11,375 electric cars and1,416 plug ins, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. That's despitesubsidies that go as high as ,000 per car.
由此造成的結(jié)果是，中國電動汽車的保有量遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)落后于目標(biāo)。根據(jù)“十二五”規(guī)劃，到2015年中國純電動汽車和插電式混合動力汽車的數(shù)量將達(dá)到50萬輛，并在2020年達(dá)到500萬輛。但中國汽車工業(yè)協(xié)會(ChinaAssociation of Automobile Manufacturers)的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，2012年中國消費者僅購買了11,375輛純電動汽車和1,416輛插電式混合動力汽車，盡管每輛車政府最高給予2萬美元的補貼。
The Chinese government's new strategy appears to be to promote plug-in hybrids as aninterim technology before fully electric cars kick in. That appears to be a pragmatic responseto the collapse of a key policy initiative. But it's a lesson in the potholes that President ____ faces on his long road to creating an innovative economy.
中國政府的新策略似乎是在普及純電動汽車前，先把插電式混合動力汽車作為一項中間過渡技術(shù)進(jìn)行推廣。這似乎是對普及純電動汽車的政策倡議失敗采取的務(wù)實對策。但是，這也是在發(fā)展創(chuàng)新型經(jīng)濟(jì)的漫長道路上碰到的一個教訓(xùn)。
關(guān)于運輸?shù)挠⒄Z文章閱讀篇三
After 500,000 miles of road tests, Google's self-driving car team gave New Yorker writerBurkhard Bilger unusually deep access for a profile this week.
經(jīng)過50萬英里的道路測試之后，谷歌(Google)的自動駕駛汽車團(tuán)隊本周不同尋常地讓紐約作家比爾格(Burkhard Bilger)深度了解了這款汽車的情況。
It's still unclear whether the larger idea of autonomous cars will work at all - the mostoptimistic estimate seems to be that they will come to market in five to 10 years.
現(xiàn)在還不清楚自動汽車這一宏大概念能否行得通――最樂觀的估計似乎是，它們將在5到10年內(nèi)進(jìn)入市場。
But self-driving cars are what put Google on the map as a company that tries to make sciencefiction into reality, so the tale of how they came to be is compelling.
但自動駕駛汽車讓谷歌成為出了名的試圖將科幻變成現(xiàn)實的公司，因此關(guān)于其概念如何形成的故事也引人注目。
The hero of Bilger's story is 33-year-old engineer Anthony Levandowski, who joined Googleafter building a self-driving motorcycle for the DARPA Grand Challenge (though it sounds likethat didn't work all that well). Levandowski was toiling away on Google Street View with themore-famous inventor/professor Sebastian Thrun before the two of them got the go-aheadfrom Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin to start working on self-driving cars.
比爾格報道的主角是33歲的工程師萊萬多斯基(Anthony Levandowski)，他加入谷歌之前為美國無人駕駛汽車挑戰(zhàn)賽(DARPA Grand Challenge)設(shè)計了一款自動駕駛摩托車(不過聽上去這款車運行起來不怎么樣)。萊萬多斯基在谷歌與更有名的發(fā)明家兼教授特龍(Sebastian Thrun)一起埋頭開發(fā)谷歌街景(Google StreetView)，后來他們二人得到谷歌聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人佩里(Larry Page)和布林(Sergey Brin)的許可，開始致力于自動駕駛汽車專案。
What made the difference? A TV show producer's wacky idea for a stunt, believe it or not.
對無人駕駛汽車這個概念產(chǎn)生重大影響的是什么?信不信由你，這個項目始于一個電視節(jié)目制作人想出來的雷人噱頭。
From Bilger's piece:
比爾格的報道中說：
'In February of 2008, Levandowski got a call from a producer of 'Prototype This!,' a series onthe Discovery Channel. Would he be interested in building a self-driving pizza delivery car?Within five weeks, he and a team of fellow Berkeley graduates and other engineers hadretrofitted a Prius for the purpose. They patched together a guidance system and persuadedthe California Highway Patrol to let the car cross the Bay Bridge-from San Francisco to TreasureIsland. It would be the first time an unmanned car had driven legally on American streets.'
2008年2月，萊萬多斯基接到探索頻道(Discovery Channel)系列節(jié)目“Prototype This!”一位制作人的電話，問他有沒有興趣打造一款自動駕駛的披薩配送車?在五個星期內(nèi)，他和一個由伯克利校友以及其他工程師組成的團(tuán)隊就改造了一輛普瑞斯(Prius)。他們拼湊出一個導(dǎo)航系統(tǒng)，并說服加州高速公路巡警(CaliforniaHighway Patrol)讓這輛車駛過海灣大橋――從舊金山行駛到金銀島。這是無人駕駛汽車首次合法地在美國街道上行駛。
The successful bridge crossing earned Page and Brin's go-ahead within a few months, accordingto Thrun.
特龍說，這次成功的“過橋行使”讓他們獲得了佩奇和布林的首肯，在接下來幾個月的時間里繼續(xù)從事這項研究。
Then the two Google co-founders, 'like boys plotting a scavenger hunt,' gave the self-drivingcar team a set of 10 100-mile itineraries. 'The roads wound through every part of the Bay Area-from the leafy lanes of Menlo Park to the switchbacks of Lombard Street. If the driver took thewheel or tapped the brakes even once, the trip was disqualified.' The team completed all 10 in ayear and a half.
接下來，谷歌的兩位共同創(chuàng)始人像計劃著進(jìn)行“尋物游戲”的孩子一樣，給自動駕駛汽車團(tuán)隊設(shè)定了10條100英里的路線。這些路線經(jīng)過了灣區(qū)的每一個部分，從門洛帕克(Menlo Park)的林蔭道到隆巴德街(LombardStreet)之字爬坡路線。如果駕駛者動了方向盤或是踩了剎車，這次行程就算沒通過。在一年半的時間里，團(tuán)隊完成全部10條路線。
There's a lot more to the story, but the real question is, what's next for the self-driving car?There are challenges on multiple fronts, now that the scavenger-hunt phase is over. 1)Jumping over legal hurdles. 2) Figuring out how to bring the cars to market, given carmakersare allergic to the word 'self driving' (though they're OK with smaller and subtler tweaks, wheremachine smarts help drivers out). And 3) Making next technological leaps forward in sensorsand machine learning. Even if autonomous cars are statistically safer, any mistake will tarnishthe entire endeavor.
關(guān)于這個故事，還有很多東西可講，但真正的問題在于，自動駕駛汽車的下一步往哪里走?“尋物游戲”這一階段走過之后，這個項目在很多方面都面臨著挑戰(zhàn)。1)越過法律上的障礙;2)在市場已經(jīng)對“自動駕駛”一詞過敏的情況下，找出把汽車推向市場的方法(不過把這這個詞稍微改動一下，表明機器智能能為駕駛者提供幫助，市場就會接受);3)在傳感器和機器學(xué)習(xí)方面再一次實現(xiàn)技術(shù)飛躍。即便有統(tǒng)計數(shù)據(jù)表明自動駕駛汽車更安全，但如果出現(xiàn)任何錯誤還是會讓全部努力受到損害。
As Bilger reports, 'The car has trouble in the rain, for instance, when its lasers bounce off shinysurfaces. (The first drops call forth a small icon of a cloud onscreen and a voice warning thatauto-drive will soon disengage.) It can't tell wet concrete from dry or fresh asphalt from firm.It can't hear a traffic cop's whistle or follow hand signals.'
比爾格在報道里寫道，比如，這種車在下雨的時候會遇到麻煩，因為這時候激光會在光滑的表面反射。(最初的幾滴雨水會讓屏幕上出現(xiàn)一個云朵狀的小圖標(biāo)，然后就有聲音提醒自動駕駛功能即將關(guān)閉。)這種車無法區(qū)分濕混凝土和干混凝土，剛鋪好的瀝青和已經(jīng)堅實的瀝青。它聽不見交警的哨音，也無法遵從交通手勢的指引。
At the same time, the car is often smarter than a human. For instance, it can prepare to brakepreemptively based on traffic data about a slowdown coming ahead, or slow to a crawl atnighttime on a wooded road when it senses a deer walking on the shoulder.
與此同時，汽車通常比人更聰明。比如，汽車可以通過交通數(shù)據(jù)發(fā)現(xiàn)前方需要減速，因此做好制動減速的準(zhǔn)備，或是在夜間林地行車發(fā)現(xiàn)路肩上有一頭行走的鹿的時候減速慢行。
And improvements are coming, says Bilger: 'At the tech meeting I attended, Levandowskishowed the team a video of Google's newest laser, slated to be installed within the year. It hadmore than twice the range of previous models - eleven hundred feet instead of two hundredand sixty - and thirty times the resolution. At three hundred feet, it could spot a metal plateless than two inches thick. The laser would be about the size of a coffee mug, he told me, andcost around ten thousand dollars-seventy thousand less than the current model.'
比爾格說，會不斷地有所改進(jìn)。他說，在我參加的這次科技會議上，萊萬多斯基向團(tuán)隊展示了一個谷歌最新激光裝置的視頻，按計劃該激光裝置將在今年內(nèi)裝備到汽車上;新裝置的探測范圍是以前型號的兩倍――從260英尺增加到1,100英尺，分辨率是以前型號的30倍。在300英尺遠(yuǎn)的地方，該裝置可以發(fā)現(xiàn)厚度小于兩英寸的金屬牌;他告訴我，這一激光裝置的尺寸只有一只咖啡杯大小，價格為1萬美元，比當(dāng)前的型號要低大約7萬美元。
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