????早期的汽車也是先被富人接受的。第一臺使用汽油的內燃機于1885年在德國誕生，在接下來20年中，引擎和汽車的其他部件都在不斷改良。直到1908年亨利?福特的T型車面世，現代轎車才能為普通人所有。福特帶來了大量創新——尤其是在裝配線上——使老百姓也能買得起T型車。但他之所以能做到這點，也是因為在小型的高消費市場超過20年的創新經驗所致。

????當然，政府并未在購買早期的手機或19世紀的汽車上給予富人稅收減免。而電動汽車可能最終也將在沒有政府幫助的情況下競爭。不過正如美國投入軍費以防御中東地區潛在危險一樣，投資加速新科技的發展，以減少美國對于來自動蕩地區的石油依賴是有道理的。盡管石油產量達到新高，美國仍是全球市場的一部分。當沙特阿拉伯陷于混亂之時，美國的經濟也會受油價飛漲拖累。擺脫這種危機的唯一辦法，就是在汽車和卡車上少用油，即便本土的石油產量增加。

????借助政府來開辟早期市場，增加了電動汽車幫助我們達成這一目標的可能性。它已經幫助了天然氣產業。21世紀初，天然氣價格飆升，大大激勵了鉆井者去試驗水平鉆孔和水力壓裂法，以便從頁巖中提取天然氣。稅收減免讓鉆井者能夠迅速彌補處理危險氣井的成本。十多年來，在這一緩沖之下，他們提高了技術，降低了成本，增加了每口氣井的產氣量。到2008年天然氣價格暴跌之時，水力壓裂法的成本已經很低，仍然能夠繼續使用。

????如果任何人都能擁有一輛電動汽車，當然很好。但是事實上，現在就讓電動汽車成為人人可有之物，成本之高難以想象。我也像其他人一樣嫉妒能夠駕駛特斯拉S型車的家伙。不過如果能因此產生一些突破，最終使得下一代汽車進入千家萬戶，并幫助美國擺脫石油依賴，那么這個價格我們也愿意付。(財富中文網)

????邁克爾?列維是《力量洶涌：能源，機遇，為美國的未來而戰》一書的作者。他是美國外交關系協會能源安全和氣候變化項目的高級研究員兼主管。

????譯者：嚴匡正

????The automobile itself benefited from early adoption by wealthy buyers. The first successful gasoline-based internal combustion engine was introduced in Germany in 1885 and over the next two decades, engines and other parts of the vehicle steadily improved. Yet it wasn't until Henry Ford introduced his Model T in 1908 that modern automobile became accessible to mere mortals. Ford (F) introduced a host of innovations -- most notably the assembly line -- that made the Model T accessible to the masses. But he was only able to do that because he could build on innovations that had been driven by smaller, upscale markets for more than 20 years.

????The government, of course, didn't give rich people tax credits for buying early-model cellphones or nineteenth-century cars. And electric vehicles might eventually compete without government help. But just as Washington spends money on the military to protect the country from potential dangers in the Middle East, it makes sense for it to invest in accelerating new technology that could make the U.S. less dependent on the volatile region for oil. Despite record gains in U.S. oil production, we're still part of a global market; when things go haywire in Saudi Arabia, our economy suffers from skyrocketing oil bills. The only way to escape that danger is to use less oil in our cars and trucks even as we produce more crude at home.

????Using government to create an early market increases the odds that electric cars will help us do that. It helped the natural gas industry. During the 2000s, skyrocketing prices for natural gas created a big incentive for drillers to experiment with horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (or "fracking") to extract natural gas from shale. Drillers were supported by tax credits that allowed them to quickly write off the costs of tackling risky wells. Over the course of the decade, that cushion let them improve their technology, bringing down costs and raising . By the time natural gas prices crashed in 2008, fracking had become so cheap that it persisted nevertheless.

????While it would be great if anyone could have a shot at owning one now, the reality is that making electric cars available to everyone today would be ruinously expensive. I'm just as envious of the guy who gets to drive a Tesla Model S as the next person. But if that's what it will take to get some breakthroughs that ultimately make the next generation of cars available to the masses -- and help slash American dependence on oil -- it's a price we should be willing to pay.

????Michael Levi is the author of The Power Surge: Energy, Opportunity, and the Battle for America's Future. He is a senior fellow and director of the energy security and climate change program at the Council on Foreign Relations.