Toyota has unveiled its vision of a “hydrogen society” at an event in Germany, as the scandal over diesel emissions engulfs Volkswagen, its biggest global rival.

日本汽车制造商丰田(Toyota)在德国的一次活动中披露了其建设“氢社会”的愿景。丰田在全球市场的最大竞争对手大众汽车(Volkswagen)正笼罩在柴油车尾气造假丑闻的阴影中。

The Japanese carmaker — the world’s biggest by 2014 sales — on Thursday invited the world’s media to Hamburg for the European launch of its Mirai fuel-cell powered vehicle.

周四，丰田邀请全球媒体赴汉堡见证其在欧洲推出燃料电池汽车Mirai的活动。以2014年销量计，丰田是全球最大的汽车制造商。

This 60,000 hydrogen-powered saloon forms a key part of the plans that Toyota announced this week to cut 90 per cent of its cars’ carbon dioxide emissions between 2010 and 2050.

这款售价6万英镑的氢动力轿车是丰田本周宣布的计划的关键一环。丰田计划在2010年至2050年间，将旗下汽车的碳排放削减90%。

Yoshikazu Tanaka, chief engineer of the Mirai — which means “future” in Japanese — said the vehicle offered “a pathway to a better, safer and cleaner future”.

Mirai首席工程师田中良和(Yoshikazu Tanaka)表示，这款汽车提供了“一条通向更美好、更安全、更清洁未来的道路”。Mirai在日语中的意思是“未来”。

Carmakers worldwide have been looking afresh at how to reduce vehicle emissions in the wake of the VW test-manipulation scandal. Hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles such as the Mirai are seen by some as an improvement on pure electric cars, as they offer range and refuelling time that is competitive with petrol and diesel models. Toyota’s fuel cell vehicle can travel 550km on its two hydrogen tanks, and can refuel in as little as three minutes.

在大众尾气检测作弊丑闻曝光后，全球汽车制造商正重新关注如何减少汽车尾气排放。Mirai等氢燃料电池汽车被一些人视为对纯电动汽车的改进，因为氢动力汽车的续航里程和补充燃料所费时间可与汽油车和柴油车媲美。丰田的这款燃料电池汽车拥有两个氢燃料箱，可续航550公里，补充燃料最短仅需3分钟。

Toyota — along with Hyundai, maker of the ix35 hydrogen car — has been at the forefront of the nascent technology, having begun research on the project in the early 1990s.

丰田与ix35氢动力汽车的制造商现代(Hyundai)一直处于这一新兴技术的前沿，从上世纪90年代初就开始研究该项目了。

Toyota says the zero-emission Mirai can achieve an overall CO2 reduction — including factory production — of between 50 per cent and 70 per cent versus conventional petrol and diesel models. Its CO2 reduction depends on whether the hydrogen is produced from renewable sources, such as wind and solar, as is the case at four refuelling stations in Hamburg.

丰田表示，与传统汽、柴油车型相比，零排放的Mirai可实现二氧化碳总排放（包括工厂生产时的排放）减少50%至70%。具体的碳减排量取决于氢燃料是否源自可再生能源，例如风能和太阳能，就像汉堡的4个加氢站一样。

Toyota will begin by offering Mirai models to environmentally conscious companies, business leaders and public bodies in Germany, Denmark and the UK. Early customers include Transport for London.

丰田首先将面向德国、丹麦和英国的具备环保意识的企业、商界领袖及公共机构销售Mirai汽车。初期客户包括伦敦交通局(Transport for London)。

It says its aim is to almost eliminate the internal combustion engine from its line-up by the middle of this century.

丰田表示，公司的目标是到本世纪中叶基本上不再生产内燃机汽车。

“There will be almost no gasoline and diesel cars as we approach 2050,” said Kiyotaka Ise, a senior managing officer at Toyota, speaking in Tokyo on Wednesday.

“到2050年，我们将基本上不再生产汽油车和柴油车，”丰田高管伊势清贵(Kiyotaka Ise)周三在东京发表讲话时表示。

To meet that target, it plans to sell more than 30,000 hydrogen-powered vehicles annually worldwide by about 2020, 10 times its sales target for 2017.

为了实现这个目标，丰田计划到2020年左右时，每年在全球销售逾3万辆氢动力汽车，是2017年销售目标的10倍。