第2858期:Death of diesel

We're talking about the future of diesel. Richard, does diesel have a future? Yes and no. It certainly doesn't if you live in the city, because many cities are banning diesel cars in the near future.我们来谈谈柴油车的未来。Richard，柴油车还有未来吗？有，也没有。如果你住在城市里，那基本上是没有的，因为很多城市将在不久的将来禁止柴油车。Paris, for example. IncludingParisand a number of other cities are considering it, yes. And also, Volvo have recently announced that all their vehicles will be electric or hybrid from 2019.比如巴黎。是的，包括巴黎在内的许多城市都在考虑禁用柴油车。此外，沃尔沃最近宣布，自2019年起，他们所有的车辆将是电动车或混合动力车。So you mean they're going to stop making diesel vehicles? Yes. So why is there such a negative attitude now towards diesel? Well, it all stems from the VW emissions scandal a few years ago. Which we did a podcast about.所以你的意思是他们要停止生产柴油车？是的。那么为什么现在对柴油会有如此负面的态度呢？这全部源于几年前大众汽车的排放造假丑闻。我们当时还为此做过一期播客。We did. Briefly, VW were making their car so they could fake the results for testing. And they found that their diesel cars were much more polluting than advertised.确实做过。简单来说，大众制造汽车时让它们能够在测试中作弊。而事实证明，他们的柴油车比宣传的污染严重得多。OK, so they were making it look like diesel cars were a good thing to buy, but in fact they weren't. Exactly. But Richard, even before that scandal, diesel was always promoted as a good environmental option.好的，所以他们让柴油车看起来像是很好的选择，但实际上并不是。没错。不过 Richard，即使在那场丑闻之前，柴油车一直被宣传成环保的选择。Yes. And that stems from the difference between the petrol engine and the diesel engine. Right.是的。这源自汽油发动机和柴油发动机之间的差异。确实。Which is? Well, diesels are actually more efficient than petrol engines and they produce less carbon dioxide. OK.那是什么差异？柴油发动机实际上比汽油发动机更高效，并且产生的二氧化碳更少。好的。However, more recently they've found that they produce more nitrogen dioxide, which is bad for the health, and more particulate matter, basically stuff, fumes, which can cause cancer.然而，近年来人们发现柴油车会排放更多的二氧化氮，这对健康有害，同时也会产生更多颗粒物，就是那些可能致癌的烟雾。And those are worse than CO2 emissions, are they? They're certainly worse for your immediate health. Right. Yes.这些排放比二氧化碳更糟吗？它们确实对人的直接健康危害更大。是的，没错。And also they produce these things in the cities. So they're more efficient cars in the country, they're fine. In the cities they produce more noxious fumes and that's why they're more unhealthy in cities.并且这些有害物主要在城市中排放。因此在乡村里，柴油车作为高效车辆还算可以；但在城市中，它们会产生更多有害废气，这就是为什么在城市里柴油车更不健康。Can I ask what you mean by them being more efficient? I won't go to the technicalities of an engine, but they're just simply a more efficient motor. They use less, slightly less fuel and they can go on for longer. So you use less fuel per kilometre? Yes.我可以问一下你说的更高效是什么意思吗？我不去讲发动机的技术细节，总之它就是效率更高。它使用的燃料更少，可以跑得更远。所以每公里耗油更少？是的。And they're more powerful as well. That's why they've generally been used in trucks. Now, I suppose this is where we have to admit that we have a diesel vehicle.而且柴油发动机更有动力。这也是为什么它们普遍用于卡车。我想这也是我们必须承认我们自己有一辆柴油车的原因。We drive a Toyota Hilux, Richard, which is what we need. We need a truck. We need a big truck.我们开的是一辆丰田 Hilux，Richard，那是我们需要的。我们需要卡车，需要一辆大卡车。Yeah. But we don't drive in the city, we live in the country. OK.对。但我们不在城市里开车，我们住在乡村。好的。So I suppose that's a little bit better. We're not driving around a city and causing problems. And of course they don't have petrol-driven trucks here.所以我想这样也好一点，我们不会在城市里开车制造污染。而且这里也没有汽油驱动的卡车。So we actually don't have a choice. We can't exchange that truck for a petrol one, can we? No. I suppose we're just going to have to wait for them to invent an electric-powered truck.所以我们其实没有选择。我们不能把那辆柴油卡车换成汽油车，对吧？没错。我想我们只能等他们发明电动卡车了。So in fact, Richard, the future for diesel does look a little bit grim. Yes, but I think the future is definitely the hybrid. Which means? A hybrid vehicle is one that uses... it can either be a petrol or a diesel-driven car.所以实际上，Richard，柴油车的未来看起来确实有些暗淡。是的，但我认为未来一定属于混合动力车。是什么意思？混合动力车是指……它可以是汽油机或柴油机驱动的车辆。Right. Which it's used for the longer journeys and then in the city it switches over to the electric technology. Which is? Well, there are no emissions when you use the electric part of the car in the city.对。长途时使用内燃机，在城市里则切换到电力驱动。那是什么呢？在城市里使用电动部分时是零排放的。Fantastic. That looks like the best of both worlds then, Richard. 太棒了。这看起来是两全其美的方案，Richard。