Like electric cars, electric boats are not a new idea.
同电动汽车一样，电动船也不再是什么新奇事儿。
In the early 1900s Clara Ford preferred driving her electric car around Detroitinstead of one of the noisy gasoline-powered Model Ts her husband Henry hadbegun making.
早在20世纪初，克拉拉·福特（Clara Ford）就喜欢在底特律开她的电动汽车，而不是开她丈夫亨利·福特（Henry Ford）在当时推出的汽油T型车。
注：亨利·福特（Henry Ford，1863-1947年）在底特律的爱迪生照明公司（Edison Illuminating Company）担任工程师时，在自己家后的棚子里建造了他的第一辆汽油动力无马车四轮摩托车。1903年，他成立了福特汽车公司，五年后该公司推出了第一款T型车。为了满足对革命性汽车的压倒性需求，福特汽车公司推出了革命性的新的大规模生产方法，包括大型生产工厂，标准化，可互换零件的制造，并在1913年成为世界上第一条汽车移动装配线。
Around the same time, posh electric launches cruised silently along the River Thamesin Britain, using dockside stopoffs to top up their batteries with electricityand their bars with champagne.
与此同时，豪华的电动游艇正静静地在英国的泰晤士河畔游行，这些游艇在岸边停泊充电或续香槟。
These days, thanks to worries about climate change, electric cars are making acomeback (in eco-minded Norway, they account for more than half of new carssold). Now electric boats are following. A number of manufacturers are vying to become the marine equivalent of Tesla, the Californian company which buildssome of the most fashionable and fastest electric cars.
如今，由于人们对气候变化的担忧，电动汽车正成为人们青睐的对象。尤其是在有经济头脑的挪威，电动汽车的销量占所有新售汽车的一半。电动船也开始乘风而上。不少制造商都争先想要成为游艇界的“特斯拉”，该公司位于加州，打造了世界上最时新，最快的电动汽车。
Rand,a Danish firm, has developed a range of traditional-looking electricmotorboats. Zin Boats, a Seattle-based company, has two electric models, atender and a five-seater speedboat. For more leisurely cruising, SerenityYachts, a Cayman Islands boat-builder, offers a 19.4-metre hybrid with 30 solarpanels on the roof. In electric mode the panels will power the craft along at asteady pace provided, of course, the sun is shining.
丹麦兰德公司已研制一系列传统外观的电动汽艇。位于美国西雅图的ZinBoats设计了两个电动船模型。如果你想游行地更加惬意， Serenity Yachts，位于开曼群岛 (Cayman Islands)的制船公司可为您提供一艘船顶上配有30个太阳板的混合游艇，船身长达19.4米。当该船处于电动模式时，船上的太阳能板可供能使船缓缓前行，当然前提条件是要有阳光普照。
注：开曼群岛，有时也译为凯门群岛或盖曼群岛，是英国在美洲加勒比海西印度群岛的一块海外属地，由大开曼、小开曼和开曼布拉克3个岛屿组成。开曼群岛是世界第四大离岸金融中心，并是著名的潜水胜地。
Candela, a Swedishcompany, is taking a different approach. Its six-seater Candela Seven(pictured) uses hydrofoils to raise its hull completely out of the water. Thisreduces friction, says Gustav Hasselskog, Candela’s founder. That, in turn,cuts energy use by around 80%, which should help reassure any skippers withrange anxiety.
瑞典公司Candela正采取着与众不同的方式。带有六座的Candela Seven水翼船（如图所示）利用船之两翼驶出水面。该公司的创建者称这样运转可以减少阻力，节约近80%的能源，这样驾驶员就不用时刻担心因缺乏能量而开不到终点了。
The hydrofoilsalso operate like the ailerons on an aircraft’s wing. Computer software similarto that which helps pilots fly jet fighters automatically turns the foils indifferent directions to stabilise the boat and prevent it from tipping over.The hydrofoils can be retracted when the boat comes into dock or runs up to abeach.
水翼船还具有像飞机两翼的辅翼一样的功能。电脑软件可以帮助驾驶员向不同的方向自动调节两翼，确保水翼船能平稳运行，不会翻入水中。当船抵达码头或沙滩时，其水翼可以折叠起来。
