CNN双语新闻(翻译+字幕+讲解):电动汽车势头猛 无人驾驶成汽车业发展方向

According to InsideEVs.com, which covers news about electric vehicles and tracks their sales, 聚焦电动汽车新闻及其销量的网站InsideEVs.com表示，

there was a deep in the average number of electric cars sold in the U.S. between March and April. 今年3月至4月间，美国电动汽车的平均销量有所下滑。

Still, for the first four months of this year, EV sales have been higher across the board than they were last year. 不过，全面来看，今年前4个月的电动汽车销量仍高于去年。

Is that a sign of things to come? 这是否是未来发展趋势的信号？

For the past 100 years or more, Americans have mostly bought cars, filled them with gasoline, and driven them places. CNN财经频道高级汽车记者彼得·瓦尔德斯·达佩纳：过去100年或者更久，大部分美国人买了车，给车装满汽油后，开车去各个地方。

Get ready for all that to change. 准备好改变这一切吧。

First, electric cars are coming on strong. Batteries are now better and cheaper to make. 首先，电动汽车的势头越来越猛。现在电池的质量更好，价格更便宜。

The Chevrolet Volt and soon the Tesla model 3 both get more than 200 miles of range for under $40,000. 雪佛兰伏特和特斯拉Model 3的售价不到4万美元，这两款车型一次充电续驶里程可达200英里。

They promised to make practical electric cars accessible to the masses. 他们承诺制造普通大众可买到的实用型电动汽车。

At the same time, advances in computers, software and sensors are bringing the dream of self-driving cars to reality. 同时，计算机、软件和传感器的进步使自动驾驶汽车这个梦想成为现实。

Already, many luxury models can largely drive themselves on highways and in stop and go traffic. 目前许多豪华车型都可以在高速公路和走走停停的交通状况中实现自动驾驶。

That's easy stuff, though. 这其实并不难。

The real challenge is driving on city streets and in suburbs where are there complex intersections and pedestrians. 真正的挑战是在城市街道和郊区驾驶，因为这些地方的交叉路口很复杂，而且还要避让行人。

Companies from both inside and outside the auto industry are working on those problems. 汽车业内外人士都在致力于解决这个问题。

Several automakers have promised to put self-driving cars on the road in just a few years. 多家汽车制造商承诺在未来几年出产自动驾驶车辆。

They'll probably show up in fleets at first, think self-driving taxis with a driver at the wheel. 他们一开始可能会比较谨慎，考虑给无人驾驶出租车配个司机。

Once cars can drive themselves, car sharing becomes much more attractive. 汽车可以实现自动驾驶以后，汽车共享就会变得更有吸引力。

After all, if your car doesn't need you to drive it, why just let it sit in a parking space all day? 毕竟，如果你的汽车不需要你驾驶，为什么让它一整天都停在停车场呢？

For that matter, why buy a car at all when you can cheaply ride in one that's just driving around on its own anyway. 就此而言，如果乘坐无人驾驶汽车的费用很便宜，那为什么还要买车呢？

With all this going on, it's no wonder automakers and auto industry investors are nervous about which companies will come out on top when the future finally arrives, 考虑到这些情况，难怪汽车制造商和汽车业投资者对未来哪家公司会独占鳌头感到紧张，

and it's arriving fast. 而这样的未来很快就会到来。