VOA慢速英语：美国“肌肉车”将何去何从

American "muscle cars" got their name because of their big, powerful engines and fast speed.
美国“肌肉车”因其大排量、马力强劲及快速而得名。
 
Some of the gas-powered cars are so noisy, the Associated Press recently described them as "thundering."
有些汽油动力车声音很大，美联社将它们描述为“声浪”。
 
But interest worldwide in electric cars brings up this question: Can a muscle car go electric?
但是全世界对电动汽车的兴趣提出了一个问题：肌肉车可以电动吗?
 
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.
汽车制造商 Stellantis 制造了道奇Charger和 Charger两款著名的肌肉车。通用汽车制造了广受欢迎的雪佛兰克尔维特。两家公司都想知道，电动肌肉车是否能吸引原本传统汽油动力汽车买家的兴趣。
 
Car fans who loved the classic, powerful cars that used a lot of fuel are called "gearheads."
喜爱油耗大的经典强劲汽车的车迷被称为“齿轮迷”。
 
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."
新的电池驱动汽车比基于“马力”的旧汽油驱动汽车速度更快。马力是用于表示发动机产生功率的术语。多年来，高马力标志着“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?
虽然电动新车比传统汽车跑得更快，更容易控制，但它们不会发出太大的噪音。齿轮迷有一天会变成电池迷吗?
 
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.
斯特兰蒂斯希望如此。该公司一半是美国人，一半是意大利人，到 2023 年底将停止生产Challenger、Charger及更大的Chrysler 300的汽油动力版本。
 
Other automakers are in the process of doing the same thing.
其他汽车制造商也在做同样的事情。
 
Many European automakers already have electric versions of their high-performance cars. They include Porsche, Audi and Mercedes.
许多欧洲汽车制造商已经拥有高性能汽车的电动版本。包括保时捷、奥迪和梅赛德斯。
 
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.
通用汽车表示很快将生产电动克尔维特。Polestar是一家由沃尔沃车主创办的电动汽车公司。Polestar 表示，一辆敞篷跑车——或小型有趣的汽车——即将推出。
 
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.
世界各国政府都要求减少汽车污染。美国总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)的政府最近也制定了新规。
 
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，汽车制造商开始将生产重心放在电动汽车上。有些汽车工厂正在更新，以便他们可以生产电动汽车。其他生产商正在建造新工厂。
 
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 领导 Stellantis 的道奇部门，关于政府考虑对不符合减少燃料使用新要求的公司进行经济处罚(即罚款)的想法，他表示“这很难。”。
 
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.
美国环境保护署 (EPA) 表示，Stellantis 的汽车油耗最多，对环境的影响也最严重。部分车型，例如装有Hemi Hellcat大型发动机的 Charger 版本，每升燃料仅行驶约 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 制定的新规则规定，到 2026 年，所有新车型都必须比现在更省油。
 
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 的研究员。他说，部分汽车制造商将继续使用传统发动机(即内燃机)制造车型约 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车的燃油率，同时也让变速器变得有趣。即使使用电池，新车也会像旧车一样发出声浪。
 
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电动版Charger，可以像肌肉车一样发出声浪。
 
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 是他自己公司的新车的批评者。“它没有情感，”他在谈到电动汽车时说。“没有戏剧性，没有内燃机的危险感”。但他确实说过，新的Charger将是有史以来最快的。
 
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·尼尔森喜欢旧车。他在伊利诺伊州拥有一家修理肌肉车的公司。他说，让那些从小开着大而响亮的汽车长大的老司机改用电动汽车可能是“强行推销”。
 
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，时代在变。尼尔森说，他知道一些企业开始考虑如何将电动驱动系统应用到“经典”汽车中。
 
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."
他说：“像我这样的人只会皱着眉头一笑置之。” 但他知道，正如他所说，“这与我这一代人无关。”
 
Kuniskis said the future is not the end of the muscle car.
Kuniskis 表示，未来并不是肌肉车的终结。
 
"It's OK," he said. "Just let us show you what the future looks like."
“没关系，”他说。“让我们向你展示未来的样子。”
 
I'm Dan Friedell. And I'm Jill Robbins.
丹·弗里德尔、吉尔·罗宾斯报道。