电池改变了什么

我看新闻说电池的价格这几年降得很快，可是我怀疑这跟电动车以外的事情有什么关系。电池不就是让车跑得更远一点吗？

I saw in the news that battery prices have dropped fast in the last few years, but I doubt this has anything to do with anything besides electric cars. Isn't a battery just something that makes a car drive a little farther?

电池便宜了，影响的东西比电动车多得多。你的手机里用的也是电池，电池便宜了，手机也能做得更便宜一点。

When batteries get cheaper, it affects a lot more than electric cars. Your phone runs on a battery too. When batteries get cheaper, phones can get a little cheaper as well.

手机我懂，可是你说电池能改变地图，这话是什么意思？地图上的路又不会因为电池变了。

Phones, I get. But you said batteries can change the map. What does that mean? The roads on a map aren't going to change because of a battery.

我说的不是路，是有电可以用的地方会变多。世界上还有很多地方没有电网，以前想在那儿用电，就得先把电网修过去，成本太高，很多地方一直等不到电。

I don't mean the roads. I mean the places that have electricity at all will increase. There are still many places in the world with no power grid. To get electricity there before, you first had to build the grid all the way out, and that cost too much, so a lot of places just never got it.

那没有电网，真的还能有电用吗？我还是有点怀疑。

So without a power grid, can a place really still have electricity? I'm still a little doubtful.

现在可以用太阳能。白天太阳能给的电，用电池储存起来，晚上没有太阳，就用储存在电池里的电。不用等电网修过去，先把电池放在那儿就行了。

Now you can use solar energy. During the day, the electricity from the sun gets stored in a battery. At night, when there's no sun, you use the electricity stored in the battery. You don't have to wait for the grid to reach you; you just put a battery there first.

听起来是不错，可是太阳能加电池，成本一定比修电网便宜吗？这个我还是怀疑。

That sounds good, but does solar plus a battery definitely cost less than building a grid? I still doubt that one.

以前是贵，但是最近几年电池的成本降得特别快，现在很多地方，用太阳能加电池，比修一条电网还便宜。

It used to be expensive. But in the last few years the cost of batteries has dropped especially fast, and now in a lot of places, solar plus a battery is even cheaper than building a power grid.

如果真的这么便宜，那些没有电网的地方，是不是很快就都会有电了？

If it's really that cheap, will the places without a power grid all get electricity soon?

已经在变了。有的地方以前晚上没有灯，现在有了太阳能和电池，晚上也能有灯，手机也能一直有电用。

It's already changing. Some places had no light at night before. Now, with solar energy and a battery, they have light at night too, and phones always have power.

我原来以为电池就是车里的一个东西，没想到它还能把电储存起来，留到晚上用，改变的是谁能用上电，谁还用不上。

I used to think a battery was just some part inside a car. I didn't expect it could also store electricity and save it for night, and that what it really changes is who gets to use electricity and who still doesn't.

对，电池便宜了，不只是车跑得更远这么简单，是很多以前没有电网的地方，第一次真的用上了电。

Right. Cheaper batteries aren't just about a car driving a little farther. It's that a lot of places that never had a power grid are getting real electricity for the first time.