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The first electric school buses in the United States began operating about 10 years ago in California.
大约10年前，美国第一辆电动校车开始在加利福尼亚州运营。
Fewer than one percent of the 489,000 school buses in the U.S. were electric at the end of 2023.
截至2023年底，美国48.9万辆校车中，电动校车的比例不到1%。
However, the number of electric school buses currently operating or that have been ordered from a manufacturer has more than tripled in the last two years.
然而，目前正在运行的或从制造商那里订购的电动校车的数量在过去两年里增加了两倍多。
That information comes from the Electric School Bus Initiative of the non-profit World Resources Institute, or WRI, based in Washington D.C.
这些信息来自总部设在华盛顿特区的非营利性组织世界资源研究所的电动校车倡议。
The WRI said that increase means 10 times as many students now ride electric school buses — from around 20,000 in 2020 to 200,000 three years later.
世界资源研究所表示，这一增长意味着目前乘坐电动校车的学生数量增加了10倍，从2020年的约2万人增加到三年后的20万人。
The number of states with electric bus laws or goals also grew from two to 14 between 2020 and last year.
从2020年到去年，制定电动公交车法律或目标的州也从2个增加到14个。
People and organizations that want electric school buses can find it difficult to get local officials to find ways to pay for them.
想要电动校车的人和组织可能会发现，很难让当地官员找到支付费用的方法。
"It's just a matter of breaking down these barriers," said Alicia Cox.
艾丽西亚·考克斯说：“这只是打破这些障碍的问题。”
She is a mother of two in Jackson, Wyoming.
她是两个孩子的母亲，居住在怀俄明州杰克逊镇。
Her state is the only one that does not have a single school district with an electric bus operating or on order.
她所在的州是唯一一个没有一个学区有电动公交车或订购电动公交车的州。
Cox's son, a second grader, often rides a diesel bus to school.
考克斯的儿子上二年级，经常乘坐柴油公交车上学。
Parents and local officials say one of the biggest problems with electric school buses is their cost.
家长和当地官员表示，电动校车最大的问题之一是成本。
Even with the fuel and maintenance savings of an electric bus, they cost two to three times more than diesel fueled buses.
即使电动公交车节省了燃料和维护费用，它们的成本也是柴油公交车的两到三倍。
The Environmental Protection Agency says it has a $5 billion program for zero-emissions buses.
美国国家环境保护局表示，它有一个50亿美元的零排放公交车项目。
The money comes from an infrastructure law passed by the U.S. Congress under the administration of President Joe Biden in 2021.
这笔资金来自美国国会在乔·拜登总统执政期间于2021年通过的一项基础设施法。
Nearly 440 grants and rebates totaling about $1.8 billion have already been released.
已经发放了近440笔赠款和退还款，总额约为18亿美元。
The goal of the federal money is to replace thousands of buses across several hundred school districts in the U.S.
这笔联邦资金的目标是更换美国数百个学区的数千辆公交车。
Demand for the money has been "heartening," said Christine Koester.
克莉丝汀·科斯特说，对这笔钱的需求“令人振奋”。
She is a director for the Clean School Bus Program at the EPA.
她是美国国家环境保护局清洁校车项目的负责人。
In addition to federal money, supporters have successfully pushed to use other money.
除了联邦资金外，支持者还成功地推动使用其他资金。
That includes money from federal government legal cases, like the Volkswagen emissions settlement.
其中包括来自联邦政府法律案件的资金，比如大众汽车排放和解协议。
In that case, the U.S. government brought legal action against the German carmaker for having a system that gave false car emissions results.
在那起案件中，美国政府对这家德国汽车制造商提起了法律诉讼，理由是该公司的系统提供了虚假的汽车排放结果。
For school districts that are not receiving federal money, there are other possibilities.
对于没有接受联邦资金的学区来说，还有其他可能性。
These include leasing buses from companies that supply the buses and the equipment needed.
其中包括从提供公交车和所需设备的公司租赁公交车。
This method spreads costs out over time.
这种方法可以在一段时间内分摊成本。
Dearborn Public Schools is a Detroit area school district in the Midwestern state of Michigan.
迪尔伯恩公立学校是位于美国中西部的密歇根州底特律地区的一个学区。
Seventy percent of families in the district are poor.
这个地区70%的家庭都很穷。
Communications director David Mustonen said the district was interested in new technology when it began operating its first electric bus in December 2022.
通讯总监大卫·穆斯托宁表示，该学区在2022年12月开始运营第一辆电动公交车时对新技术很感兴趣。
The district bought an electric school bus with a $300,000 federal grant.
该学区用30万美元的联邦拨款购买了一辆电动校车。
The bus has been operational only about three of the 12 months since then.
在那之后，这辆公交车只运行了大约3个月。
That is because of maintenance needs and learning about the device.
这是因为维护需要和对该设备的了解。
That is not discouraging Dearborn from moving forward with adding 18 additional electric school buses.
这并没有阻止迪尔伯恩学区继续增加18辆电动校车。
But those problems represent a risk other school districts may not want to take.
但这些问题代表着其他学区可能不愿承担的风险。
There are other problems slowing the change to electric buses.
还有其他问题减缓了学校转而使用电动公交车的速度。
School districts sometimes take a long time to approve electric buses.
学区有时需要很长时间才能批准电动公交车。
Manufacturing of the buses can be delayed, and electric buses require special electrical connections for charging.
公交车的生产进程可能会推迟，电动公交车需要特殊的电气连接才能充电。
And, of course, electricity costs money, too.
当然，电也是要花钱的。
Wyoming refused federal money from the EPA because of concerns about how far the buses could travel.
怀俄明州之所以拒绝了美国国家环境保护局的联邦资金，是因为其担心电动公交车的行驶里程。
There were also concerns about cold temperatures.
此外，该州还担心气温偏低。
Wyoming is a very large Western state where travel distances are big and, in the winter, temperatures can get very cold.
怀俄明州是一个面积很大的西部州，在那里旅行距离很长，在冬天，气温可能会变得非常低。
Electric battery performance decreases in cold temperatures.
电池的性能在低温下会下降。
"Even though diesel is not as clean, it's getting the job done," Cox said schools and fleet managers tell her.
考克斯说，学校和车队经理告诉她，“尽管柴油不是那么清洁，但它能完成工作。”
I'm John Russell.
约翰·拉塞尔为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
