每日跟讀#506: In Norway, Electric and Hybrid Cars Outsell Conventional Models

Sales of electric and hybrid cars in Norway outpaced those running on fossil fuels last year, cementing the country’s position as a global leader in the push to restrict vehicle emissions.

Norway, a major oil exporter, would seem an unlikely champion of newer, cleaner-running vehicles. But the country offers generous incentives that make electric cars cheaper to buy, and provides additional benefits once the vehicles are on the road.

去年，挪威的電動車和油電混合車的銷量超越使用化石燃料的汽車，奠定了挪威推動車輛減排全球領導者的地位。

挪威是個石油出口大國，似乎不太會是更新型態、更乾淨車輛的倡導國。然而挪威卻提供大方的獎勵，讓消費者購買電動車時價格更親民，車輛一旦上路，還有額外的好康。

Countries around the world have ramped up their promotion of hybrid and electric cars. As China tries to improve air quality and dominate new vehicle technology, the government there wants 1 in 5 cars sold to run on alternative fuels by 2025. France and Britain plan to end the sale of gasoline- and diesel-powered cars by 2040.

Norway is ahead of the rest of the world. About 52 percent of the new cars sold in the country last year ran on new forms of fuel, according the data released by Norway’s Road Traffic Advisory Board, OFV. The share of diesel cars, which were once considered more environmentally friendly but are now in the spotlight for their noxious emissions, fell sharply.

世界各國紛紛對電動車和油電車的推廣加大力度。在中國試圖改善空氣品質，主宰新型車輛技術之際，政府希望2025年前當地售出的汽車有五分之一使用替代燃料。法國和英國計畫在2040年前停售汽、柴油車輛。

挪威目前在世上居於最領先地位。根據挪威道路交通諮詢委員會（OFV）發布的資料，去年該國銷售的新車，約52％使用新型燃料。柴油車的占比劇降。柴油車一度被認為更環保，如今卻因排放有害氣體而成眾矢之的。

“This trend will only increase,” Oyvind Solberg Thorsen, OFV’s director, said in a statement. “This is good for both road safety and the environment.”

Although electric vehicles make up just a small portion of the global market now, automakers — including those, like Tesla, that produce only electric models, and giants like Volkswagen — have bet billions of dollars that such vehicles will soon be as cheap and ubiquitous as conventional cars. Investments in charging stations and other technology connected to electric vehicles are also increasing.

OFV執行長歐文德．梭伯格．索爾森發表聲明說：「這種趨勢只會加快。這對道路安全和環境有好處。」

儘管電動車現今僅占全球市場的一小部分，汽車製造商─包括像特斯拉那種只生產電動車的，以及像福斯汽車這樣的巨擘，都已在這種汽車賭上數十億美元，認為它很快就會和傳統汽車一樣便宜以及無所不在。和電動車相關的充電站以及其他技術的投資也日益增多。

General Motors and Ford Motor have said they will shift their focus to electric models, while carmakers like Volvo have moved to phase out the internal combustion engine entirely. Joining the fray are entrepreneurs like James Dyson who have their own plans to build electric vehicles.

As the market grows, makers of electric cars are facing difficulties. Tesla has lagged in its production of the Model 3, its first mass-market offering. And a slump in overall car sales in the United States could put a crimp in the expansion of electric vehicles.

Norway, which wants to phase out diesel and gasoline cars by 2025, offers a counterexample.

The country’s embrace of electric cars has been hastened by hefty government subsidies and tax breaks that make the technology more affordable.

通用汽車和福特汽車都已表示，他們將把重點轉向電動車，而像富豪汽車這些汽車製造商則開始逐步徹底淘汰內燃機汽車。加入戰局的還有像詹姆斯．戴森這樣的企業家，他們也各有打造電動車的計畫。

隨市場增長，電動車製造商也面臨困境。特斯拉的第一個大眾市場車款特斯拉三型電動車的生產進度落後。美國整體汽車銷量下滑，也可能成為電動車擴張的一道障礙。 冀望2025年前逐步淘汰柴油和汽油車的挪威，則是一個反例。

這個國家擁抱電動車的速度，因政府提供大量補貼和減稅而加快，政府的政策讓這項技術變得更買得起。

Source:https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/323758/web/

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