Hybrid heaven
混合动力车的天下
Everyone in Mongolia drives a Prius
每个蒙古人都开普锐斯
The cars are cheap, fuel-efficient and easy to start in the cold
这些车价格便宜，省油，而且在大冷天易启动
THE MELLOW thrum of the Toyota Prius is to the streets of Ulaanbaatar what the screech of brakes and honk of horns is to New York: omnipresent. Beloved of eco-warriors worldwide, the Japanese car dominates the streets of Mongolia’s capital. If you stand on the corner of Sukhbaatar Square in the city centre, a good half of the passenger vehicles you see sailing past are Priuses. Dozens of garages cater exclusively to them. According to UN trade data and The Economist’s estimates, some 60% of Mongolia’s car imports last year were hybrids.
据英国《经济学人》网站12月18日的消息：丰田普锐斯行驶在乌兰巴托街道上发出低沉的嗡嗡声就像纽约的刹车声和喇叭声一样：无处不在。深受世界各地环保斗士的喜爱，日本车在蒙古首都的街道上也是独领风骚。如果站在乌兰巴托市中心的苏赫巴托广场的拐角处，你会看到足足有一半的乘用车是普锐斯。几十个车库专门为它们提供着服务。据联合国的贸易数据和《经济学人》的估计，混合动力车去年约占据蒙古进口汽车总数的60%。
They are popular in Mongolia, as elsewhere, because hybrid engines are efficient and fuel costs low. The cars themselves are also cheap: according to the UB Post, a local newspaper, you can pick up a used Prius for as little as $2,000. That is partly because most Mongolian ones are second-hand imports from Japan, where passenger vehicles more than three years old must undergo expensive safety tests. Rather than shell out for those, many Japanese drivers buy a new car. (That is the point of the tests, some say: to boost domestic carmakers.) In 2017 Japan exported 30,000 hybrid vehicles to Mongolia.
混合动力车在蒙古等国很受欢迎，原因是混合动力发动机效率高，燃料成本低。这些汽车本身也很便宜:据当地报纸《乌兰巴托邮报》(UB Post)的报道，你可以花2000美元买到一辆二手普锐斯。这在一定程度上是因为大多数蒙古汽车是从日本进口的二手车。在日本，使用了超过三年的乘用车必须接受昂贵的安全检测。日本许多司机宁愿花钱买新车，也不愿为此花费一大笔钱。(有人说，这就是检测的意义:推动国内汽车制造商的发展。)2017年，日本向蒙古出口了3万辆混合动力汽车。
In addition, the government has exempted hybrids from various taxes, in an attempt to clear the air in Ulaanbaatar. The city is one of the most polluted in the world in winter because of the widespread use of coal for heating and power generation. Hybrid vehicles enter the country duty-free and, unlike most cars, are exempt from an air-pollution tax.
此外，为了净化乌兰巴托的空气，蒙古政府还免除了混合动力车的各种税费。由于广泛使用煤炭取暖和发电，乌兰巴托是世界上冬季污染最严重的城市之一。同大多数汽车不同的是，混合动力汽车在免除进口税进入蒙古的同时，还不用缴纳空气污染税。
But the clincher is the Prius’s reliability. Ulaanbaatar may be the chilliest capital in the world. On a winter morning drivers must sometimes start their cars in temperatures below -30°C. Cars that run on petrol and diesel tend to sputter and die at such temperatures. The Prius can use its battery to power its electrical engine until the car warms up enough for the petrol engine to run smoothly—saving many a Mongolian from freezing frustration.
不过，关键问题是普锐斯的可靠性。乌兰巴托可能是世界上最寒冷的首都。许多司机有时必须要在温度低于零下30°C的冬季早晨发动汽车。以汽油和柴油为燃料的汽车在这一低温下往往会噼啪响几声便停止下来。而普锐斯可以使用蓄电池为电控发动机提供动力，直到汽车预热到足以让汽油发动机平稳运行，这让许多蒙古人免受寒冬侵扰之苦。(译：李菲)
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