Fuel Cells for Cars Getting a New Push
燃料電池汽車重獲青睞
By Lawrence Ulrich

For decades, hydrogen has been promoted and then dismissed as an alternative fuel for cars. Now, in spite of those who insist that battery electric vehicles are the long-term environmental solution, the cost of hydrogen fuel cell has fallen significantly, and carmakers are placing another long-odds bet on the technology.
數十年來氫曾被捧為汽車的替代燃料，又打入冷宮。現今，儘管有人堅持電池電動車才是最佳環保長期解決方案，然因氫燃料電池成本大降，汽車製造商再次對這項技術放膽一賭。

Hyundai has been first in the latest wave of fuel cell models, which are actually electric cars with one important difference: Instead of a plug-in battery that draws power from the electrical grid, a fuel cell generates power from an electrochemical reaction between onboard hydrogen and oxygen in the air. Clean water trickles out the tailpipe as the only byproduct.
最新一波燃料電池車款打頭陣的是現代汽車，這其實是電動車，只有一大差異，不以插電電池從充電站充電，而是使用燃料電池，讓車載的氫和空氣中的氧產生電化學反應生電。排氣管流出的少量乾淨水是唯一副產品。

In a riposte to most battery electric vehicles, which generally travel less than 160 kilometers on a charge, and take several hours to recharge, fuel cell cars operate nearly as conveniently as gasoline models. They travel roughly 500 kilometers on a tank, and their carbon-fiber tanks can be pumped full of hydrogen in less than 10 minutes.
多數電池電動車充電一次行駛不到160公里，每次充電須數小時，燃料電池車卻沒有這些缺點，用起來幾乎和汽油車一樣方便。每筒氫約可行駛500公里，碳纖氫氣筒不到10分鐘即可裝滿。

Last June, David Uselton and his wife, Suelyn, became the second California family to lease the hydrogen version of the Hyundai Tucson crossover sport utility vehicle. They are paying $499 a month with $2,999 down, more than they would for the same Tucson with a gasoline engine. But perks include a $5,000 purchase rebate from the state and three years’ worth of free hydrogen from Hyundai.
去年六月，大衛．尤塞爾頓和妻子蘇琳成為加州租用現代「土桑」跨界休旅車的第二對夫婦。頭期款2999美元，月租499美元，比租汽油版貴。好處是可獲州政府退款5000美元，現代還免費提供氫氣3年。

Mr. Uselton, a director of a global e-commerce company, remembers their son assembling a toy car model eight years ago. The toy scooted along, powered by a fuel cell that used sunlight to generate hydrogen from water. “He thought it was really cool, and asked, ‘Why can’t every car work like this?’ ” Mr. Uselton said.
尤塞爾頓是電子商務公司主管，他回憶8年前兒子組裝一個玩具汽車模型，可到處趴趴走，動力來自以陽光讓水產生氫氣的一個燃料電池。尤塞爾頓說：「他認為它酷斃了，問道『為何不能讓所有車子都這樣運作？』」

Like the nearly 70 other people who have leased hydrogen-fueled Tucsons, the Useltons were checked out by Hyundai to ensure the car would fit their lifestyle. The criteria included geographic proximity to the nine public hydrogen stations. “I would rather shamelessly drive to dealerships, asking to be part of the program,” Mr. Uselton says.
和其他約70名租用氫燃料「土桑」的人一樣，尤塞爾頓夫婦也接受現代的審核，確保車型符合他們的生活方式。條件包括離九個公共氫氣加氣站不遠。 尤塞爾頓說：「我願意厚臉皮找上汽車經銷商，請他讓我加入這項計畫。」

His enthusiasm was driven by a belief that automobiles require a reinvention. “One thing we know for sure is that oil will not be here forever,” he said.
他的熱情來自堅信汽車需要再造。他說：「有件事我們非常肯定，不會永遠有汽油可用。」

Proponents of hydrogen note that it is the most abundant element in the universe. But deriving that element efficiently has been a major catch, along with a dearth of places to refuel. The cars’ onboard fuel cells and storage tanks have been exorbitantly expensive. When Honda tested its first FCX fuel cell cars in California in 2002, analysts estimated the cars cost up to $1 million each to produce.
氫電池的支持者表示，氫是宇宙中最豐富的元素。不過，如何有效取得始終是個難題，欠缺補充氫的地點是另一問題。車上的燃料電池和儲存筒的造價都高得嚇人。本田2002年在加州測試公司的第一個FCX燃料電池車時，分析師估計每輛車造價高達100萬美元。

In 2007, General Motors introduced a test fleet of 119 Chevrolet Equinox hydrogen S.U.V.s. The company boldly predicted it would sell as many as one million fuel-cell vehicles by 2020. But development stalled, and the industry turned its attention to electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. But carmakers, including Toyota – the unmatched king of hybrids – are again optimistic about hydrogen. Toyota will offer its $58,325 Mirai fuel cell compact this year, exclusively in California for now. Honda will follow in 2016 with a car based on its streamlined FCV concept model.
2007年，通用汽車公司推出測試車隊119輛雪佛蘭「春分」氫燃料電池休旅車。該公司大膽預測2020年前可望售出一百萬輛燃料電池車。但其後發展停滯，業界將注意力轉向電動車和插電式油電複合動力車。但目前汽車製造商再次看好氫電池，包括在複合動力車界龍頭地位無人能挑戰的豐田在內。豐田今年將開始提供售價5萬8325美元的「未來」燃料電池小型車，暫時只在加州。本田將於2016年跟進，推出以最新燃料電池概念車為基礎的車型。

Toyota says it has reduced the Mirai’s fuel cell cost by 95 percent. It has linked up with BMW to develop fuel cells, with other alliances formed by G.M. and Honda, and by Daimler, Ford and Nissan. Today, most hydrogen is derived from natural gas production, diminishing its environmental edge. But backers see promise in producing hydrogen by splitting water using solar, wind or other renewable power.
豐田說，「未來」燃料電池成本已降低95%。它已和寶馬聯合開發燃料電池，另外通用和本田，戴姆勒、福特和日產，也各自結盟。現今氫主要取自天然氣，降低了它的環保優勢。但支持者從以太陽能、風能或其他再生能源分解水產生氫，看見了希望。

Toyota is confident it could sell perhaps 3,000 Mirais in the United States through 2017. That is a relatively small number, but the company envisions a hydrogen nucleus that will spread to the East Coast and eventually the whole nation.
豐田有信心到2017年年底為止可在美國銷售約3000輛「未來」。雖然相對而言數量極小，但公司預見氫核將擴展到東海岸，最終整個美國。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/17/automobiles/hydrogen-fuel-cell-cars-return-for-another-run.html

2015-05-05聯合報/G9版/UNITED DAILY NEWS 王麗娟譯 原文參見紐時週報八版右