South Korea Steers Toward Electric Auto Future
韩国研制出路面充电的网上电动车

Former U.S. President Clinton and mayors from around the world are gathering in Seoul this week for a summit on reducing greenhouse gases in the world's cities. London Mayor Boris Johnson says the leaders hope to agree on ways to end the world's "endless addiction to the internalcombustion engine." South Korean scientists are proposing a "middle of the road" solution.

美国前总统克林顿与来自世界各地的市长们这个星期聚集在韩国首尔参加一个有关减少世界各城市温室气体排放的峰会。伦敦市长鲍里斯.约翰逊说，与会领导人希望就如何结束全球对内燃机的无休止的严重依赖达成一致意见。韩国科学家提出了一条"中间道路"，希望能解决这个问题。

At South Korea's leading technology university, the electric car of the future does not require a pit stop to charge or change batteries - because it draws its power right from the road itself.

在韩国著名的科技大学--韩国科学技术高级研究院，未来的电动车不需要停在一个地方充电或是更换电池，因为它可以直接从路面上获得能量。

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, headquartered in Daejeon, about 150 kilometers from Seoul, is working on a vehicle it calls "OLEV." That stands for Online Electric Vehicle.

韩国科学技术高级研究院位于距离首尔大约150公里左右的大田。他们正在研制一款叫做"OLEV"的车辆，也就是网上电动车。

At this point, it looks like a souped up golf cart. But engineering professor Cho Dong-ho, the manager of the OLEV program, says some revolutionary technology is on board.

到目前为止，这款车看上去像一辆加大马力的高尔夫球车，但是，工程学教授、OLEV项目经理赵东镐(音译)说，他们在车上应用了一些革新技术。

"This model [has] a power supply system installed under the ground," said Cho.

他说："这款车的电力供应系统被安置在地下。"

An experimental track at KAIST features power cables buried under a strip in the road, over which the car passes. Magnetic receivers on the bottom of the car siphon power over the airwaves, with no physical connection, recharging the battery. The power charging strips are designed to be installed at intersections and other places where traffic slows down naturally, so vehicles can derive the maximum charge.

在韩国科学技术高级研究院的试验轨道，电缆被埋入公路的一段，然后车辆在路上通行。车上的磁悬浮装置将从电波中吸收电能来充电，不需要真正的接触。这些充电带安置在路口或是车辆自然减速的地方，这样车辆就可以得到最充足的电源。

Professor Cho says the technology will have big benefits - but will take some time to implement.

赵东镐教授说，这项技术将带来巨大的效益，但是，实施还需要时间。

He says widespread use of the technology will automatically solve many of Korea's environmental and fuel scarcity problems. The key challenge, he says, will be building a reliable and extensive infrastructure.

他说，这项技术的广泛使用将自动解决韩国许多环境问题和燃油短缺问题。他说，主要的挑战是修建可靠的和大范围的基础设施建设。

He says if current trials are successful, a field trial is planned in the South Korean capital. After that, other local cities will get a chance to adopt the online electric vehicle.

他说，"如果目前的实验取得成功，将在首尔首先推行试用，然后，韩国的其他城市才有机会使用这种网上电动车。"

One of the key attractions of the model is that it eliminates the need for countless individual charging stations for each vehicle, or the need to swap out batteries on a continual basis. Instead, the online road strips are connected to larger charging stations, which South Korea intends to charge mainly through nuclear plants.

这款车最大的优点之一就是不必再建造无数个充电站，或者总是更换电池。相反，这种网上公路带将与大型充电站连接，韩国希望主要利用核能来充电。

Cho says the online vehicle is a cost-effective solution for mass transit planners.

赵东镐说，对那些公共交通决策者来说，网上车辆将可以大大节省成本。

He says the main competitors of this electric vehicle are electric subways and trams. However, establishing subways costs about $10 million a kilometer, and about $5 million per kilometer for a tram line. By contrast, he says online electric vehicle power strips will cost only about $400,000 per kilometer.

他说："这种网上车辆的最大竞争者来自电力地铁或是有轨电车。不过，修建地铁每公里将花费一千万美元；修建每公里有轨电车需要花费5百万美元。相比之下，修建网上电车电力传送带每公里只需要40万美元。"

Cho says the technology has proven safe to use around people and machinery in all experiments so far. Future power strips will be designed big enough for use by large buses at first, then by smaller online electric cars later on. Each of the vehicles are designed to be able to switch to "battery mode," so they can depart from the charging strips and drive anywhere at all for a limited period of time.

赵东镐说，目前为止，所有的试验都证明，使用这项技术对人和机器都是安全的。将来的电力传送带将首先为大型公交车使用，然后再应用到小型电动车。另外，每一辆车都将能切换到"电池模式"，这样车辆就可以离开充电带，在一个特定的时间内开到任何一个地方。