大众承认欺骗 车主却不愿修车
Even as Volkswagen embarks on the task of fixing the emissions systems it disabled on almost 500,000 of its diesel vehicles in the United States, the automaker faces another hurdle: persuading owners to make the repair at all.
汽车制造商大众公司(Volkswagen)正着手修复美国近50万辆柴油车上被其关闭的排放系统，但即便在此时，他们也还要面临又一个障碍：说服车主返修车辆。
That’s because the software that allowed Volkswagen to fool federal emissions tests also lowered the car’s performance and fuel economy while the device was turned on. So for owners, the prospect of having a car’s emissions cleaned up, only to have the car perform worse — whatever the pollution — is not sitting well.
这是因为，大众用来在联邦排放测试中作弊的软件开启时，柴油车的性能和节油性就会降低。所以，为了减少汽车的尾气排放，结果是使汽车性能下降（不管污染程度怎样），对车主来说，这可不是理想结果。
“If we take a 10 percent hit in our gas mileage, I can live with that, but I won’t be happy,” said Patrick Downs, who lives in Port Angeles, Wash., and owns a 2013 Jetta TDI.
“如果油耗增加了10%，我可以接受，但肯定是不高兴的，”帕特里克·当斯(Patrick Downs)说，他住在华盛顿安吉利斯港，是一辆2013年款捷达TDI车主。
“If it is 25 percent or more and the performance is degraded to the point where the car has a lot less torque and pickup, that is going to make me very unhappy,” he added. “That is going to make me consider not getting the fix.”
“如果是25%或更多，性能下降到了扭矩和加速能力都大幅降低的程度，我会很不高兴，”他说。 “那样我就会考虑不去返修了。”
It was well known among owners of Volkswagen diesels that the cars’ advertised fuel economy — as shown on the window sticker — was almost always lower than their real-world performance.
大众柴油车车主几乎都知道，车窗贴纸上宣传的节油性，几乎总是比现实使用中低。
Michael Horn, head of Volkswagen’s American unit, told a congressional panel this month that the repairs he outlined — which will take years and require significant new equipment — might result in a slightly lower top speed in the cars. But he was careful to say that the cars’ fuel economy would not be lower than the rating on the window sticker.
本月初，大众汽车公司美国区负责人迈克尔·霍恩(Michael Horn)告诉一个国会小组，他提出的维修方案将花费几年时间，并需要使用大量新设备，它可能会导致柴油车的最高速度稍有降低。但他谨慎地说，这些车的节油性不会比窗户贴纸上的数字低。
That’s not satisfactory, said Jeff Hinton, the owner of a 2013 Passat diesel.
这并不让人满意，2013款帕萨特柴油车车主杰夫·亨顿(Jeff Hinton)说。
“Every TDI owner will tell you, ‘I get much better numbers, miles to the gallon, than any number that is on that Monroney sticker,’” Mr. Hinton, 36, said in a telephone interview from Morrisville, N.C., using a term for the window sticker.
“每个TDI车主都会告诉你，‘实际数字，每加仑柴油跑的英里数，比窗户贴纸标注的数字要高得多，”36岁的亨顿在北卡罗来纳州莫里斯维尔通过电话表示。
“On recent trips, 500 miles plus, I’ve gotten 52 to 55 miles per gallon,” Mr. Hinton said. The Environmental Protection Agency rating on the window sticker of his Passat is 40 miles per gallon on the highway.
“最近跑了500多英里，每加仑柴油跑52到55英里，”亨顿说。他的帕萨特窗户贴纸标注的美国环境保护局（Environment Protection Agency，简称EPA）评测是在高速公路上每加仑柴油行驶40英里。
“I wouldn’t want my car recalled or reprogrammed or retrofitted in any way if it is going to hurt the performance, because that is not what I paid for,” he said.
他说，“如果会影响车的性能的话，我不希望我的车被以任何方式召回或重新编程或改装，因为我花钱买的不是这样的车。”
The E.P.A. cannot force owners to repair their vehicles, said Julia Ortiz, a spokeswoman for the agency.
EPA女发言人茱莉亚·奥尔蒂斯(Julia Ortiz)表示 ，该机构无法迫使车主返修车辆。
Automakers also cannot require owners to carry out the emissions recall, just as they cannot force owners to take their vehicles in to complete a safety recall.
汽车制造商也无法要求车主实施排放召回举措，就像它们无法迫使车主让车接受彻底安全性召回一样。
Some states require vehicles to pass emissions tests before they can be registered each year. But those tests are far less sophisticated than the E.P.A.’s, and the Volkswagens that are not repaired are sure to pass them, said John German, a senior fellow at the International Council on Clean Transportation, which played a crucial role in discovering the automaker’s deceit.
国际清洁交通委员会(International Council on Clean Transportation)资深成员约翰·杰曼(John German)表示，一些州要求车辆在每年进行注册之前通过排放测试。但这些测试远不如EPA那么精密。没有经过修理的大众汽车肯定能通过这种测试。该委员会在发现该汽车制造商的欺骗行为的过程中发挥了重要作用。
That loophole means the air pollution consequences of Volkswagen’s action — at least on a small scale — are irreparable if enough owners refuse to have their vehicles fixed.
这个漏洞意味着，如果很多车主拒绝返修车辆，大众汽车的行为——至少在小范围内——造成的空气污染后果将是无法挽回的。
