2012年五大科技突破

    汽车革命梦想成真

    对于汽车来说，现在已经是个新时代了。戴伊说：“我认为，我们即将迎来汽车行业的一次重大转型。”他补充说，这次转型已经酝酿了一段时间，但是现在，“材料、导航、汽车电子系统和动力系统的重大革新真的同时到来了。”

    汽车厂商们必须密切关注电动汽车、插入式混合动力轿车、完全混合动力轿车以及其它节能技术领域的消费者趋势。经历了几乎整整一个世纪的内燃发动机时代后，如今汽车厂商正在改造汽车的动力系统，利用新型动力技术，生产老百姓消费得起的环保汽车。

    2011年末，汽车消费者已可在全美范围内买到2012款雪佛兰沃蓝达（Chevy Volt）混合动力轿车。今年，日产公司（Nissan）又在美国推出了聆风（Leaf）的完全电动版本。

    动力系统并不是汽车业唯一的创新机会，今天的汽车已经变得越来越像电脑了。不过戴伊表示：“也不要放弃内燃发动机。当你觉得一项行业主流技术即将被淘汰的时候，也正是这一技术获得最大进步的时候。”

    译者：朴成奎

    Out of my dreams, into my (improved) car

    It's a new world for cars. "I think we're at the cusp of quite a significant transformation in the auto industry," Day says. This transformation has been building for some time, he adds, but now, "major innovations in materials, navigation, on-board electronic systems and drivetrains are really starting to come together."

    Automakers must keep an eye on consumer trends around electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids, full hybrids, and cars equipped with other mileage-extending technology. And after about a century of powering vehicles with good old combustion engines, car companies are tweaking the drivetrain -- the system that makes a car move -- and using this updated tech to build affordable cars.

    At the end of 2011, car buyers could get the 2012 Chevy Volt hybrid car nationwide. This year, Nissan released the fully electric version of the Leaf in the United States.

    Not that drivetrains are the only opportunity for automotive innovation; indeed, cars are becoming more like computers every day. "Don't give up on the internal combustion engine either," Day says. "An industry's technology improves the most just when you think it's being put out of business."