The Ford motor company's abandonment of
electric cars effectively signals the end of the road for the technology,
analysts say. General Motors and Honda ceased production of
battery-powered cars in 1999, to focus on fuel cell and hybrid electric gasoline
engines, which are more attractive to the consumers. Ford has now announced it
will do the same. Three years ago, the company introduced the
Think City two-seater car and a golf cart called the THINK, or Think Neighbor.
It hoped to sell 5,000 cars each year and 10,000 carts. But a lack of demand
means only about 1,000 of the cars have been produced, and less than 1,700 carts
have been sold so far in 2002. "The bottom line is we don't
believe that this is the future of environment transport for the mass market,"
Tim Holmes of Ford Europe said on Friday. "We feel we have given electric our
best shot." The Think City has a range of only about 53 miles
and up to a six-hour battery recharge time. General Motors' EVI electric vehicle
also had a limited range of about 100 miles. The very expensive
batteries also mean electric cars cost much more than petrol-powered
alternatives. An electric Toyota RAV4 EV vehicle costs over $42,000 in the US.
compared with just $17,000 for the petrol version. Toyota and Nissan are now the
only major automanufacturers to produce electric vehicles.
"There is a feeling that battery electric has been given its chance. Ford now
has to move on with its hybrid program, and that is what we will be judging them
on," Roger Higman, a senior transport campaigner at UK Friends of the Earth,
told the Environment News Service. Hybrid cars introduced by
Toyota and Honda in the past few years have sold well. Hybrid engines offer
greater mileage than petrol—only engines, and the batteries recharge themselves.
Ford says it thinks such vehicles will help it meet planned new guidelines "on
vehicle emissions" in the US. However, it is not yet clear
exactly what those guidelines will permit. In June, General Motors and Daimler
Chrysler won a court injunction, delaying by two years Californian legislation
requiring car-makers to offer 100,000 zero-emission and other low-emission
vehicles in the state by 2003. Car manufacturers hope the legislation will be
rewritten to allow for more low-emission, rather than zero-emission,
vehicles.
单选题
What have the Ford motor company, General Motors and Honda done
concerning electric cars?
A. They have started to produce electric cars.
B. They have done extensive research on electric cars.