有多少小伙伴習慣在站臺等車時刷手機？如果你在深圳，那可能會錯過公交車，因為駛來的是一輛輛純電動公交車，靜悄悄地停下來，又輕輕離去，還沒有一絲尾氣。英國《衛(wèi)報》將其稱之為“無聲革命”，可謂是全球清潔能源競賽中的里程碑。

You have to keep your eyes peeled for the bus at the station in Shenzhen’s Futian central business district these days. The diesel behemoths that once signalled their arrival with a piercing hiss, a rattle of engine and a plume of fumes are no more, replaced with the world’s first and largest 100% electric bus fleet.

如今，在深圳的福田中央商務區(qū)公交站，你得留神才能注意到公交車已到跟前。過去的公交車是燒柴油的龐然大物，只要聽到尖銳的嘶嘶聲、引擎的震顫聲，看到冒煙，就知道車來了，現(xiàn)在取而代之的是世界上第一批、也是規(guī)模最大的純電動公交車隊。

behemoth [b?'hi?m?θ]: n. 巨獸

Shenzhen now has 16,000 electric buses in total and is noticeably quieter for it. “We find that the buses are so quiet that people might not hear them coming,” says Joseph Ma, deputy general manager at Shenzhen Bus Group, the largest of the three main bus companies in the city. “In fact, we’ve received requests to add some artificial noise to the buses so that people can hear them. We’re considering it.”

有1.6萬輛電動公交車的深圳，也因此變得安靜多了。深圳巴士集團副總經理馬正源說：“公交車完全沒聲音，可能到身邊了都注意不到。我們還接到建議，希望人為地給車增加一點噪音，這樣人們才會聽到。我們正在考慮這一建議?！?/p>

The benefits from the switch from diesel buses to electric are not confined to less noise pollution: this fast-growing megacity of 12 million is also expected to achieve an estimated reduction in CO2 emissions of 48% and cuts in pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, non-methane hydrocarbons and particulate matter.

從柴油公交車換成電動公交車的好處，不僅是減少噪聲污染。深圳市有1200萬人口，這個快速發(fā)展的大都市預計很快將實現(xiàn)減少48%二氧化碳排放量并減少污染物（比如氮氧化物、無甲烷碳氫化合物、顆粒物）排放的目標。

megacity['meg?s?t?]:  n.大城市（人口超過1000萬的）

Shenzhen Bus Group estimates it has been able to conserve 160,000 tonnes of coal per year and reduce annual CO2 emissions by 440,000 tonnes. Its fuel bill has halved.

據深圳巴士集團估計，集團因此每年可節(jié)約16萬噸煤，二氧化碳年排放量可減少44萬噸，燃料費支出也減半。

“With diesel buses I can remember standing at the bus stop and the heat, noise and emissions they generated made it unbearable in the summer,” says Ma. “The electric buses have made a tremendous difference.”

馬正源說：“我記得路上還是柴油公交車時，站在公交站臺上，撲面而來的都是高溫、噪音和廢氣，在夏天尤其受不了。而純電動公交車帶來了巨變?！?/p>

China’s drive to reduce the choking smog that envelops many of its major cities has propelled a huge investment in electric transport. Although it remains expensive for cities to introduce electric buses – one bus costs around 1.8 million yuan – Shenzhen was able to go all-electric thanks to generous subsidies from both central and local government.

為減少籠罩許多大城市的霧霾，中國一直大力投資發(fā)展電動交通工具。城市引入電動公交車可是筆不小的費用（一輛電動公交車耗資約180萬元），深圳的公交車能實現(xiàn)全電動，得益于中央和地方政府的大力補貼。

“Typically, more than half of the cost of the bus is subsidized by government,” says Ma. “In terms of operation there is another subsidy: if we run our buses for a distance of more than 60,000km we receive just under 500,000 yuan from local government.”

馬正源說：“一般來講，公交車一半多的費用都由政府補貼資助，另外還有運營補貼：如果公交車里程數超過6萬公里，地方政府還會發(fā)放不到50萬元的補貼”。

This subsidy is put towards reducing the cost of the bus fares: “The government looks at the public transport very much as social welfare.”

這一補貼是為了降低公交票價。他說：“政府基本就是把公共交通當作一種社會福利。”

To keep Shenzhen’s electric vehicle fleet running, the city has built around 40,000 charging piles. Shenzhen Bus Company has 180 depots with their own charging facilities installed. One of its major depots in Futian can accommodate around 20 buses at the same time.

為保障電動公交車隊的運營，深圳市建了大約4萬個充電樁，深圳巴士集團自建180個充電站，福田區(qū)的一個大型充電站能同時為大約20輛公交車充電。

“Most of the buses we charge overnight for two hours and then they can run their entire service, as the range of the bus is 200km per charge,” says Ma.

馬正源說：“對大多數公交車來說，我們在晚上充電兩小時，就能支持第二天的運營全程，因為每次充電的續(xù)航里程是200公里。”

More than 30 Chinese cities have made plans to achieve 100% electrified public transit by 2020.

目前中國有30多個城市計劃到2020年實現(xiàn)公共交通全部電動化。

But with central government planning to withdraw subsidies by 2020, introducing electric buses elsewhere could be too expensive.

但中央政府打算到2020年取消補貼，這樣一來其他地區(qū)發(fā)展電動公交車的成本可能就太高了。

There is also geography to consider. Shenzhen is fairly flat, but the hills of nearby Hong Kong have proven too much in trials of electric buses. Other cities in northern China have struggled with battery power in the extreme cold of winter.

地理條件也是一個考慮因素。深圳地形很平坦，但香港在試運行電動公交車時就發(fā)現(xiàn)山路太多。中國北方城市則存在冬季極冷時電池續(xù)航力的問題。

Meanwhile, cities such as London and New York are accelerating their drive towards electric buses. London plans to make all single-decker buses emission-free by 2020, and all double-deckers hybrid by 2019. New York plans to make its bus fleet all-electric by 2040.

同時，倫敦和紐約等城市也在加速其公交電動化。倫敦將在2020年前實現(xiàn)所有單層巴士零排放，所有雙層巴士將在2019年底前改成混動。紐約計劃在2040年前實現(xiàn)所有公交車電動化。

double-decker ['d?bl'dek?] : n.雙層公共汽車

Riding the 222 bus the length of Shenzhen’s CBD, you hear little sound other than a soft whine when the driver accelerates.

在222路公交車駛過深圳中央商務區(qū)的這段路上，公交車加速時只能聽到輕柔的嗚嗚聲。

The easy-to-clean hard plastic seats are not the most comfortable but most passengers opt to stand anyway – a choice made easier by the smoothness of the ride.

易清潔的塑料座椅不算太舒適，但大多乘客站著也無所謂——反正一路行駛很平穩(wěn)。

Rolling into our destination, the doors open with a beep, beep, beep – the loudest noise the bus has made the entire journey.

車到站，車門打開，發(fā)出嗶嗶嗶的聲音，這是全程中公交車發(fā)出的最大聲音。

“It’s quieter, smoother and I only pay the same fare as before,” says Lai, a regular passenger. “I would say most people here are happy with the switch.”

經常乘坐公交車的賴姓乘客說：“電動公交車更安靜、更平穩(wěn)、票價也和以前一樣。我覺得多數人對這一轉變都是滿意的?！?/p>

來源：衛(wèi)報、環(huán)球網

翻譯&編輯：yaning