紐時賞析／因疫情興起的交通工具 電動自行車能成為主流嗎？

Can E-Bikes Go Mainstream?

電動自行車能成為主流嗎？

Growing up in the Netherlands, with its network of pathways, its flat landscape and its bicycle-friendly traffic laws, brothers Ties and Taco Carlier were commuting with their parents on bikes by age 4. Many families in the country didn’t own cars.

在荷蘭長大的台斯與塔可．卡利爾兄弟4歲就跟父母一起騎自行車上下班，當地車道密集、地勢平坦，且交通法規對自行車友善。許多荷蘭家庭沒有汽車。

But traveling to New York and other cities as adults, the Carliers realized that few people commuted on bikes in the same way they did back home, turned off by the sprawl, the hills and the weather. The experience planted the seed for what would become one of the world’s hottest bicycle brands.

但當他們成年後前往紐約和其他城市時，卡利爾兄弟發現，很少人像他們在家鄉那樣騎自行車通勤，因為城市的距離、丘陵地形和天氣讓人卻步。這段經歷為後來世界最熱門自行車品牌之一播下了種子。

In a bike market remade by the pandemic, VanMoof, the Dutch e-bike company started by the brothers, has been among the biggest winners. With a simple and stylish design and clever integration of technology, the company has drawn comparisons to Apple and Tesla and has attracted a loyal and fast-growing customer base among urban professionals in Europe and the United States.

在疫情重塑的自行車市場，這對兄弟創辦的荷蘭電動自行車公司VanMoof是最大贏家之一。憑著簡潔時尚的設計與巧妙的科技整合，該公司被拿來與蘋果和特斯拉相比，並在歐美城市專業人士中吸引了一批快速成長的忠實客戶。

Sales of the battery-powered bikes more than tripled during the pandemic, and the company has raised more than $150 million from venture capitalists who don’t typically bet on bicycles.

這種電池驅動的自行車在疫情期間銷量成長逾2倍，該公司跟向來不看好自行車發展的創投業者籌到超過1.5億美元。

“We wanted to change the bike in the way it functions, but also from a technology perspective,” Ties Carlier said in a video interview from the company’s headquarters in the Netherlands.

台斯．卡利爾在荷蘭公司總部接受視訊專訪時說：「我們想改變自行車的運作方式，但也想從科技角度著手。」

“Amsterdam is very small and flat, but most cities in the rest of the world are very hilly and can be really hot in the summer, and the distances are much further,” he said. “But those limitations really change completely when you have electric bikes.”

他說：「阿姆斯特丹很小，地勢平坦，但世界其他地方的多數城市地勢相當起伏，夏天真的很熱，距離也遠很多，但有了電動自行車，真的能夠完全改變這些限制。」

Once seen by consumers as unreliable, expensive and ugly, battery-powered bikes are now one of the fastest-growing forms of urban transportation. With simplified designs, new corporate and government incentive policies and more awareness about the environmental benefits of cycling versus driving, VanMoof estimates industry sales will hit $46 billion by 2026, double pre-pandemic predictions.

曾遭消費者視為不可靠、昂貴和醜陋的電動自行車，如今是成長最快的城市交通工具之一。根據VanMoof估計，隨著設計簡化、企業與政府的新獎勵政策，以及人們意識到騎車比開車更有益於環境，該產業銷售額在2026年將達460億美元，是疫情前估值的兩倍。

Changes to urban transportation prompted by the coronavirus pandemic can be seen around the world, with commuters having abandoned public transit because of COVID fears. Paris roads are crowded with cyclists taking advantage of new bike lanes and lower automobile speed limits. Berlin is building a cycling “superhighway” across the city. And in New York, home to the largest urban bike network in the nation, ridership soared so much, there was even a problem finding places to park a bicycle.

世界各地都能夠見到新冠病毒大流行所引起的城市交通變化，通勤者因擔心新冠病毒而放棄公共運輸。巴黎的道路上擠滿了騎自行車的人，他們利用新的自行車道與更低的汽車速限。柏林正在修建一條橫貫城市的自行車「超級高速公路」。在擁有全美最大城市自行車網的紐約，騎車的人激增，甚至連找地方停放自行車都成了問題。

文／Adam Satariano　譯／陳韋廷

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【張佑生】

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