电动汽车相关课题外文资料翻译-汽车设计(编辑修改稿)

电动汽车相关课题外文资料翻译-汽车设计(编辑修改稿)内容摘要：

oil, Americans are finally focusing on fuel economy and looking beyond big SUVs for their next vehicle. A consumer survey by the influential . Power and Associates last summer found that an amazing 57 percent of respondents would consider buying a hybrid car for their next vehicle, and 49 percent would consider a car powered by E85 ethanol. Another survey, by Frost amp。 Sullivan, found that 80 percent are more concerned about fuel prices than they were a year ago. Almost half say they have already bought or would consider buying a more fuelefficient gas car or hybrid if fuel prices keep going up. And in the sedentary ., it39。 s impressive that one in five say they39。 re also starting to use alternative transportation: biking, walking, public transportation and car pools. PlugIn Hybrids While plugin hybrids remain in the prototype stage, conversion kits are on the market (though availability has been spotty). EDrive39。 s system, with pricing to be announced, replaces the Prius39。 nickelmetalhydride battery pack with a larger, lithiumion pack. Hymotion39。 s kits for the Prius ($9,500) and Ford Escape (as yet unpriced, but definitely more expensive) leave the existing batteries in place but add a lithiumion auxiliary battery. The drawback is that they39。 re currently available only for fleets. The consumer needs to do research before buying one of these kits, with a particular emphasis on how they affect the car39。 s warranty. Do plugin hybrid vehicles simply exchange their pollution source from tailpipe to coalburning smokestack? It depends on the electric power source, according to a new report released by the American Council for an EnergyEfficient Economy (ACEEE), a nonprofit energy policy group. ACEEE concluded that a plugin version of the Toyota Prius could reduce CO2 emissions by a third over a conventional Prius hybrid, but only if its batteries were charged with California electricitygenerated mainly from relatively clean sources. In the Midwest, dominated by coalburning power plants, the report says the plugin Prius would actually generate one percent more carbon dioxide. The Future with Batteries and Fuel CellsIf any one technology can replace the internalbustion engine, it39。 s the fuel cell, which doesn39。 t burn anything but converts hydrogen (stored in a tank as liquid or gas) to electricity and its tailpipe emission: water vapor. Fuel cells were invented in the mid19th century and provided electric power on NASA space missions, but they39。 re only now being practical for ground transportation. The Chevrolet Sequel is one of the world39。 s most advanced fuelcell automobiles, representing many millions of dollars of advanced Ramp。 D. The Sequel looks like a fairly sleek crossover SUV, but driving it is like nothing else: EVs (fuelcell cars are really electric cars) tend to be slow and plodding, but the。