Richard Westcott, BBC Science and Technology Correspondent

If we are going to clean up the air in our towns and cities, we've got to attract more people onto public transport. And that means getting rid of all those diesel¹ buses chugging around. And that is where this new piece of technology comes in.

理查德·韦斯科特       BBC科技通讯员

“如果我们要净化城镇的空气，就必须吸引更多的人乘坐公共交通工具。这就意味着要废弃所有突突作响的柴油公交车。而这项新技术正好可以派上用场。”

 

Designed by an ex-Formula One engineer and his team, it looks like a normal double-decker. But they say they found a way of boosting how far it can go on one charge.

它由一名前一级方程式赛车工程师和他的团队设计，看起来像一辆普通的双层公交车。但设计者称他们找到了在充一次电的情况下提高电池续航能力的方法。

 

Richard Westcott, BBC Science and Technology Correspondent

It's got five batteries like this one secreted² around the vehicle, but that's not the clever bit. The clever bit is at the back because apparently³ with electric buses they can use as much energy just heating and cooling the cabin as they do physically⁴ driving along. So, they have developed much more efficient air conditioning. And that means, overall, it's got a much longer range.

理查德·韦斯科特       BBC科技通讯员

“车身藏有五块这样的电池，但这还不是它的妙处。妙就妙在车的后部，因为电动公交车在给车厢供暖和制冷时，所消耗的能量与实际行驶时一样多。因此，他们开发出了效能更高的空调。这意味着，总体上看，大大提高了它充一次电可行驶的距离。”

 

Ian Foley used to work for Williams and Lotus, until he decided⁵ to turn his skills to something a bit less racy.

伊恩·弗利曾为一级方程式赛车队威廉姆斯和路特斯（又译 “莲花”）工作，直到他决定转而将一技之长用在不那么惊险刺激的地方。

 

Ian Foley, Managing Director, Equipmake

It's still a big challenge. Interestingly, weight is an issue just like in Formula One, because the batteries we need for the electric bus are very heavy. We still need to be able to carry 87 passengers. And so, it's quite a big challenge to get the weight distribution right on the vehicle for the electric bus.

伊恩·弗利       英国 Equipmake 公司总经理

“这仍然是一项巨大的挑战。有意思的是，就像一级方程式赛车一样，重量是个难题，因为电动公交车所需的电池非常重。除此之外，还要搭载87名乘客。因此，对于电动公交车来说，在车身正确分配重量是一个相当大的挑战。”

 

Richard Westcott, BBC Science and Technology Correspondent

So, some of that learning from your earlier career has helped you with this?

理查德·韦斯科特       BBC科技通讯员

“那你之前的职业生涯中学到的东西对你的设计有帮助吗？”

 

Ian Foley, Managing Director, Equipmake

Absolutely. And we've got quite a few of the guys who I worked with earlier on in my career here, kind of working on weight saving and a very efficient mechanical design.

伊恩·弗利       英国 Equipmake 公司总经理

“当然很有帮助。而且，这里有很多人都是我早期职业生涯中的同事，他们的工作就是减轻重量和创造高效的机械设计。”

 

The key technology has been designed at a factory near Norwich [UK].

这项关键技术是在英国诺里奇附近的一家工厂设计的。

 

Long term, they want to make 200 vehicles a year to be sold all over the world, but still built locally.

从长远来看，他们希望每年生产200辆汽车，销往世界各地，但仍在英国本土生产。

 

Ian Foley, Managing Director, Equipmake

We've got the resources here. We've got the people here. Our batteries are made locally here. So, it's really important for us to make everything here in the UK. 90% of our product is actually made on this site.

伊恩·弗利       英国 Equipmake 公司总经理

“我们这里有资源，有专业人员。我们的电池是本地生产的。所以对我们来说，在英国制造一切部件非常重要。我们90%的产品都是在这个地点生产的。”

 

Bus giant, Go Ahead, is trialling one on a London route.

公交车巨头 “Go Ahead” 正在伦敦的一条线路上进行试驾。

 

So, the vehicle is going to be taking its first passengers later in the spring.

这辆车将在今春晚些时候搭载首批乘客。

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