VOA慢速英語：美國“肌肉車”將何去何從

American "muscle cars" got their name because of their big, powerful engines and fast speed.
美國“肌肉車”因其大排量、馬力強勁及快速而得名。
 
Some of the gas-powered cars are so noisy, the Associated Press recently described them as "thundering."
有些汽油動力車聲音很大，美聯(lián)社將它們描述為“聲浪”。
 
But interest worldwide in electric cars brings up this question: Can a muscle car go electric?
但是全世界對電動汽車的興趣提出了一個問題：肌肉車可以電動嗎?
 
The carmaker Stellantis makes the Dodge Challenger and Charger-two well-known muscle cars. General Motors makes the popular Chevrolet Corvette. Both companies are wondering if they can keep the interest of buyers who love traditional, gas-powered cars.
汽車制造商 Stellantis 制造了道奇Charger和 Charger兩款著名的肌肉車。通用汽車制造了廣受歡迎的雪佛蘭克爾維特。兩家公司都想知道，電動肌肉車是否能吸引原本傳統(tǒng)汽油動力汽車買家的興趣。
 
Car fans who loved the classic, powerful cars that used a lot of fuel are called "gearheads."
喜愛油耗大的經(jīng)典強勁汽車的車迷被稱為“齒輪迷”。
 
The new battery-powered cars are quicker than the old gas-powered cars that sold themselves based on "horsepower." Horsepower is a term used to talk about the power created by an engine. For years, high horsepower signaled "high performance."
新的電池驅(qū)動汽車比基于“馬力”的舊汽油驅(qū)動汽車速度更快。馬力是用于表示發(fā)動機產(chǎn)生功率的術(shù)語。多年來，高馬力標(biāo)志著“高性能”。
 
While the new cars go fast and are easier to control than cars with big engines, they do not make much noise. Will the gearheads someday become battery-heads?
雖然電動新車比傳統(tǒng)汽車跑得更快，更容易控制，但它們不會發(fā)出太大的噪音。齒輪迷有一天會變成電池迷嗎?
 
Stellantis hopes so. The company, which is half American and half Italian, will stop making gas-powered versions of the Challenger, Charger and its larger Chrysler 300 by the end of 2023.
斯特蘭蒂斯希望如此。該公司一半是美國人，一半是意大利人，到 2023 年底將停止生產(chǎn)Challenger、Charger及更大的Chrysler 300的汽油動力版本。
 
Other automakers are in the process of doing the same thing.
其他汽車制造商也在做同樣的事情。
 
Many European automakers already have electric versions of their high-performance cars. They include Porsche, Audi and Mercedes.
許多歐洲汽車制造商已經(jīng)擁有高性能汽車的電動版本。包括保時捷、奧迪和梅賽德斯。
 
General Motors said it will soon make an electric Corvette. Polestar is an electric vehicle company started by the owners of Volvo. Polestar says a roadster - or small, fun car - is coming soon.
通用汽車表示很快將生產(chǎn)電動克爾維特。Polestar是一家由沃爾沃車主創(chuàng)辦的電動汽車公司。Polestar 表示，一輛敞篷跑車——或小型有趣的汽車——即將推出。
 
Governments around the world are requiring cars to create less pollution. U.S. President Joe Biden's administration also recently put in place new rules.
世界各國政府都要求減少汽車污染。美國總統(tǒng)喬·拜登(Joe Biden)的政府最近也制定了新規(guī)。
 
As a result, car makers are starting to center their production on electric cars. Some car factories are being updated so they can make electric vehicles. Other producers are building new factories.
因此，汽車制造商開始將生產(chǎn)重心放在電動汽車上。有些汽車工廠正在更新，以便他們可以生產(chǎn)電動汽車。其他生產(chǎn)商正在建造新工廠。
 
Tim Kuniskis leads the Dodge division for Stellantis. "It's tough," he said when discussing the idea that governments are considering financial punishments, known as fines, for companies that do not meet new requirements to reduce fuel use.
Tim Kuniskis 領(lǐng)導(dǎo) Stellantis 的道奇部門，關(guān)于政府考慮對不符合減少燃料使用新要求的公司進行經(jīng)濟處罰(即罰款)的想法，他表示“這很難。”。
 
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, said Stellantis' cars use the most fuel and have the worst effect on the environment. Some of the cars, such as one version of the Charger with a big engine called the Hemi Hellcat, travel only about five kilometers on a liter of fuel.
美國環(huán)境保護署 (EPA) 表示，Stellantis 的汽車油耗最多，對環(huán)境的影響也最嚴(yán)重。部分車型，例如裝有Hemi Hellcat大型發(fā)動機的 Charger 版本，每升燃料僅行駛約 5 公里。
 
New rules put in place by the EPA say all of a company's new car models must be much more fuel efficient by 2026 than they are now.
EPA 制定的新規(guī)則規(guī)定，到 2026 年，所有新車型都必須比現(xiàn)在更省油。
 
Sam Abuelsamid is a researcher for Guidehouse Insights. He said some carmakers will keep making models with traditional engines, known as internal combustion engines, for about 10 years.
Sam Abuelsamid 是 Guidehouse Insights 的研究員。他說，部分汽車制造商將繼續(xù)使用傳統(tǒng)發(fā)動機(即內(nèi)燃機)制造車型約 10 年。
Dodge is working to improve its cars' use of fuel but also keep the gearheads interested. The new cars will make noise like the old ones even if they are using batteries.
道奇正在努力改善其汽車的燃油率，同時也讓變速器變得有趣。即使使用電池，新車也會像舊車一樣發(fā)出聲浪。
 
A recent demonstration by Dodge showed off a Charger that made noise just like a muscle car.
道奇最近一次展示的電動版Charger，可以像肌肉車一樣發(fā)出聲浪。
 
Kuniskis, however, is a critic of his own company's new car. "It doesn't have the emotion," he said, speaking of the electric cars. "It doesn't have the drama. It doesn't have the dangerous feeling" of an internal combustion engine. But he did say that the new electric Charger would be the fastest ever.
然而，Kuniskis 是他自己公司的新車的批評者。“它沒有情感，”他在談到電動汽車時說。“沒有戲劇性，沒有內(nèi)燃機的危險感”。但他確實說過，新的Charger將是有史以來最快的。
 
Rick Nelson likes the old cars. He owns a company that fixes muscle cars in Illinois. He said it might be a "hard sell" to get older drivers who grew up with big, loud cars to switch to electric ones.
里克·尼爾森喜歡舊車。他在伊利諾伊州擁有一家修理肌肉車的公司。他說，讓那些從小開著大而響亮的汽車長大的老司機改用電動汽車可能是“強行推銷”。
 
But, times are changing. Nelson said he knows of businesses that are starting to think about how to put electric driving systems into the "classic" cars.
但是，時代在變。尼爾森說，他知道一些企業(yè)開始考慮如何將電動驅(qū)動系統(tǒng)應(yīng)用到“經(jīng)典”汽車中。
 
He said, "Guys like me are just going to frown on it and laugh at it." But he knows, as he put it, "this isn't about my generation."
他說：“像我這樣的人只會皺著眉頭一笑置之。” 但他知道，正如他所說，“這與我這一代人無關(guān)。”
 
Kuniskis said the future is not the end of the muscle car.
Kuniskis 表示，未來并不是肌肉車的終結(jié)。
 
"It's OK," he said. "Just let us show you what the future looks like."
“沒關(guān)系，”他說。“讓我們向你展示未來的樣子。”
 
I'm Dan Friedell. And I'm Jill Robbins.
丹·弗里德爾、吉爾·羅賓斯報道。