【经济学人】电动汽车丨2017.04.06丨总第867期

ELON MUSK, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, has had two bits of good news recently about his various bets on new technology. SpaceX, his privately-held launch company, last month became the first successfully to reuse a rocket to put a satellite into orbit. And this week Tesla, his electric-car manufacturer, at last hit its production targets.

近日，硅谷企业家ELON MUSK投资的各种新技术中有两个好消息。他的私人火箭发射公司——太空探索技术公司（SpaceX）——上个月成为第一个成功利用回收火箭并将其再次发射的公司。 而本周，他的电动汽车制造公司特斯拉（Tesla）在最后关头达到了其生产目标。

• Silicon Valley：硅谷

• Orbit：n. 轨道

Some analysts doubted Tesla would meet its goals after a series of production difficulties. But the carmaker said first-quarter deliveries were just over 25,000 vehicles, a record for the firm and a 69% increase over the same period in 2016. Some 13,450 were its sleek Model S saloons and about 11,550 were the firm’s new SUV, the Model X. This puts Tesla on track to produce the 50,000 vehicles it has promised to make in the first half of this year. That is good progress. But Tesla is going to have to crank production up by an awful lot more to make the 500,000 cars a year which Mr Musk wants to see pouring off the production line by 2018, let alone the 1m intended for just two years later.

鉴于一系列生产困难，一些分析师不认为特斯拉可以实现其目标。 但汽车制造商表示，第一季度交货量为2.5万辆，同比增长69％，创历史新高，。其中约13,450辆是S型轿车，约11550辆是该公司的新SUV—X系列，这使得特斯拉公司有望生产5万辆车——这也是他们今年上半年的目标。 这是一个好兆头， 但特斯拉公司必须要提高产量，Musk先生期望在2018年完成50万辆的生产，这还远远不够，他想要的是在2年后达到100万辆。

• Crank up：启动

• an awful lot：非常多

To reach those volumes, Tesla is counting on its forthcoming Model 3. Priced at around $35,000, the new car will cost around half that of the other two models. Due to begin production later this year, the Model 3 is supposed to take Tesla into the mass market, where it will face stiff competition from plug-in vehicles produced by existing mass manufacturers, including GM, Nissan and BMW.

为了实现目标，特斯拉主打即将推出的3系列车，价格在35,000美元左右，花费仅为其他两个系列的一半。 随着年末3系列的投产，特斯拉公司将打入大众市场，与通用、尼桑和宝马三大老牌生产商展开激烈的竞争。

• mass market：大众市场

• Stiff：a. 强烈的 强硬的

Bringing any new car to market burns cash, and Tesla has been busy raising funds. On March 24th Tencent, a Chinese internet giant that owns WeChat, a popular messaging service, paid $1.8bn for a 5% stake in Tesla. Tencent could help accelerate Tesla’s drive into the vast Chinese market, where some 28m cars were sold last year. With Donald Trump trying to dismantle some environmental standards in America, China seems likelier to push green technologies. It is already the world’s biggest market for electric cars; some 700,000 plug-in cars are expected to be sold there this year. But to compete against low-cost local brands, Tesla urgently needs to start churning out its cheaper car.

新车上市特别烧钱，因此特斯拉公司一直忙于筹集资金。 3月24日，现下流行的即时通讯服务——微信，其供应商中国互联网巨头腾讯花费18亿美元购买了特斯拉公司5%的股权作为投资。 腾讯可以帮助特斯拉进军中国这个仅去年就成交了大约两千八百万辆汽车的市场随着唐纳德·特朗普在逐步废除美国一些环保标准，而在中国似乎更有可能发展绿色科技。 加之中国市场已经是世界上最大的电动汽车市场，并且，预计今年将会有大约70万辆电动汽车在中国市场成交。 为了与低成本的本土品牌进行竞争，特斯拉公司急需在价格上做文章。

• Dismantle：vt. 逐步废除

• plug-in ：a. 插电的

Many investors are betting that Tesla can become a mass producer. This has pushed up the value of the firm’s shares, which have increased by 38% since the start of 2017. On April 3rd Tesla’s market capitalisation exceeded $48bn, overtaking Ford (at $45bn). Ford may not be as technologically glamorous but it is well-versed in mass-producing cars, having made 6.7m last year. An awful lot will be riding on the Model 3. If Tesla fails to hit future targets then a cashflow crisis may loom. Investors, though, will have an exit: the company’s brand and whizzy technology are easily valuable enough to drive the firm into the arms of a bigger manufacturer that can hit its numbers.

许多投资者都断言特斯拉公司可以成为大厂商，（期待您的翻译，明天会有针对这句话的长难句解析哟~）截至4月3日，特斯拉公司的市值超过480亿美元，超过了福特的450亿美元。 福特公司并不以技术为长，但专注生产，仅去年的年产值已经达到了670万辆。 而特斯拉把宝押在了3系列汽车上，如果特斯拉公司不能完成目标，那就可能出现资金流转的危机。 然而，哪怕有投资者放弃投资，该公司的品牌和技术的价值也足以吸引更大的生产商投资，最终实现预期目标。

• market capitalisation：市值

• well-versed：精通

• mass-producing：批量生产

• ride on：取决于

• cashflow ：vi. 资金流动

• Whizzy：a. 最新的

翻译 ▍c、Serena、西柚

审核 ▍妖精

编辑 ▍璃儿