Take the wheel of an electric vehicle (EV) and prepare to be astounded. The smooth, instant acceleration of battery power makes driving easy and exciting. The latest technology is there, with tablet-like screens instead of old-fashioned switches. Add falling prices which make owning and running many EVs as cheap as fossil-fuel alternatives, and the open road beckons.
坐上電動汽車，你将大吃一驚。電池動力帶來的流暢、即時加速體驗讓駕駛更加便捷也更加刺激。最新技術已經運用上，電動汽車抛棄了老式的開關，取而代之的是平闆電腦一樣的操作螢幕。再加上價格一降再降，如今購買一台電動汽車并不比購買燃油車更貴，寬敞的道路也在召喚着人們跟上時代的潮流。
Except when you look under those sleek exteriors. The tangle of cables in the boot is a reminder of the need to plug in and recharge cars roughly every 250 miles (400km). And when you do find a public charging point, it is sometimes damaged or inaccessible. Little wonder that one of the main reasons drivers give for not buying an EV is “range anxiety”.
然而，在這些光鮮的外表之下，電動汽車後備箱裡亂糟糟的電線提醒着你，大約每行駛250英裡(400公裡)就需要插上電源充電。當你好不容易找到一個公共充電站時，卻發現充電要站麼壞了，要麼沒法用。這樣一來，人們因為“裡程焦慮”而不願意購買電動汽車也就不足為奇了。
A society wide switch from hydrocarbons to electrons is required if the world is to stand a chance of reaching its NetZero emissions targets. However, as EVs become more common, the charging problem will become more severe. Today’s mostly wealthy owners can often plug in their EV at home or at work. But many less well off EV drivers will not have a drive-in front of their house or a space in the executive car park.
如果要達到淨零排放的目标，就要實作從碳氫化合物動力向電動力的轉型。然而，電動汽車越普及，充電問題也日益凸顯。大多數富人車主通常在家裡或在工作場所對電動汽車進行充電。但更多收入平平的車主并不會在自家門前或在公司停車場設定充電站。
By 2040 around 60% of all charging will need to take place away from home, requiring a vast public network of charging stations. At the end of 2020 the world had just 1.3m of these public chargers. By some estimates, to meet netzero emissions goals by 2050 will require 200m of the things.
到2040年，60%的充電行為都不在家裡，這就需要一個龐大的公共充電站網絡。2020年底，全球僅有130萬個公用充電站，據估計，要在2050年實作淨零排放的目标，需要2億個公用充電站。
Who might install them? Drivers will need a mix of fast “longdistance” chargers installed near motorways that can rapidly add hundreds of miles to battery ranges and slower “top up”
數量如此龐大的充電站由誰來安裝呢？電動汽車當機需要的是在告訴公路旁安裝的快速“長途”充電站，不僅能快速充電、增加數百英裡的電池續航，還能降低能耗速度。
chargers available at kerbsides or in the car parks of shopping centers, restaurants and so on. The private sector, sensing an opportunity to make some money from surging ev ownership, is already showing an interest. Dedicated charging firms and carmakers are investing in infrastructure. Oil companies, with Shell to the fore, are putting chargers in petrol stations and buying charging companies. Utilities, which have plenty of electricity to sell, are also starting to sniff around.
路邊、購物中心和商城的停車場都能配置充電站。私營部門從飙升的電動汽車普及率中捕捉到了金錢的信号，開始蠢蠢欲動。專營充電裝置的企業和汽車制造商開始投資基礎設施建設。以殼牌公司（Shell）為首的石油企業也開始在加油站裡配置充電裝置，收購生産充電裝置企業。擁有大量電力儲備可供出售的公共事業企業也在旁邊虎視眈眈。
Yet the charging business suffers from big problems. One is how to co ordinate between the owners of charging points, the owners of the sites where they will be installed, planning authorities and grid firms. Another is the cost. According to one estimate, the bill for the chargers needed to reach netzero by 2050 will be $1.6trn. To start with, profits may be elusive because the networks will not at first be heavily used. A related risk is that the coverage will have gaps. California is a choice spot for installing chargers, but is anyone keen on investing in Nebraska? And then there is the question of competing networks. Drivers should be able to switch from one to the other without the hassle of having to sign up to them all.
即便如此，電動汽車充電仍然面臨着巨大問題。一方面是如何協調充電點業主、安裝地點的業務、規劃當局和電網公司之間的關系。另一方面就是成本問題。據估算，在2050年實作淨零排放需要安裝的充電站成本高達1.6萬億美元。一開始，由于充電站的使用率問題，利潤可能十分微薄。覆寫率難以精确計算也是一項風險。加利福尼亞是安裝充電站的最佳地點，但真的會有人願意投資内布拉斯加州嗎？此外，競争網絡也是問題之一。司機從一家充電站到另一家充電站，應該免于重新注冊的麻煩。
What to do? Governments are experimenting. As well as subsidizing EV sales many are throwing cash at public chargers. America’s infrastructure law sets aside $7.5bn to create 500,000 public stations by 2030. Britain plans to require new buildings to install chargers. Yet the sums are puny and the problems of co ordination, coverage and convenience will remain. Governments should learn from telecoms. Most countries auction or issue a limited number of licenses or spectrum rights to firms to run regional and national mobile networks. In return the firms have to build networks according to a schedule, offer universal coverage and compete with each other. Regulators set rules to allow roaming between them.
怎麼辦？各國政府也在嘗試各種手段。除了補貼電動汽車銷售，一些國家政府還直接為公共充電站提供資金。美國的基礎設施法撥款75億美元，預計到2030年建成50萬個公共充電站。英國将要求建立建築配置充電裝置。然而，這不過是杯水車薪，協調、覆寫率和便利方面的問題仍亟待解決。政府應該向電信業學習。大多數國家為營運區域和國家移動網絡的公司頒發限量許可證和頻譜權或者通過拍賣發放證書和權限。作為回報，這些公司必須按照計劃建立網絡，提供全民覆寫，并互相競争。監管機構制定了允許使用者在不同電信營運商之間漫遊的規則。
This approach has its flaws. Poorly designed auctions in Europe left firms with too much debt, and competition has become less intense in America. But in the past two decades the world has marshalled over $4trn of spending on telecoms infrastructure. And the mobile phone has turned from a shiny object for rich people into something in everyone’s pocket. The bright sparks running climate policy should take note.
這種方式也有不足之處。歐洲漏洞百出的拍賣計劃讓公司負債累累，而在美國，營運商之間的競争也變得不那麼激烈。在過去20年裡，全球在電信基礎設施方面的支出超過4萬億美元，手機也從富人手中的奢侈品變成了人人都能企及的物品。制定氣候政策的精英們或許也該借鑒這一辦法。
編譯：姚玉霜
編輯：翻吧君
來源：經濟學人（2021.12.11）