美国国家公共电台 NPR As First Model 3 Rolls Off The Line, Can Tesla Sustain Momentum?

 

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Big week this week for electric and hybrid¹ cars. Volvo became the first automaker to commit to making all its models either electric or hybrid after the year 2019. And today, Tesla is rolling a new car off the assembly line, the Model 3. It's supposed to fulfill² CEO Elon Musk³'s promised to make an affordable⁴, long-range electric car. NPR's Sonari Glinton is on the line to help us work out whether this premise⁵ is hype or horsepower or something like that. Hey, Sonari.

SONARI GLINTON, BYLINE⁶: Hey, Mary Louise.

KELLY: So this Model 3 is a sedan, I gather. Why is Tesla banking⁷ that a Model 3 sedan is what the world needs?

GLINTON: Well, the Model 3 is a stab at the mass market. It's an all-electric car. And it retails⁸ for $35,000 with about a $7,500 rebate⁹. And that puts it well within the range of a new car buyer. The average new car is about $33,000. So it goes 215 miles. And that's a lot. Elon Musk plans to have about 30 vehicles by the end of the month, ramping¹⁰ up to about 1,500. And this is a really big bet.

KELLY: Yeah, no, absolutely. Well, and in terms of the numbers they're making, I'm going to have to ask you about scale because the goal here for Tesla is not just to persuade people they need to buy this electric car, it's to persuade a lot of people they need to buy this car, right?

GLINTON: Yeah, exactly. This car is very hype. And I think a lot of the other car companies can actually touch it. Last month, Tesla sold 4,400 cars. And now they're wanting the scale to produce about half a million. Now, to give you an idea...

KELLY: Ah.

GLINTON: ...Toyota sells about 450,000 Camrys. So it's doable. But that is hard. It's a hard task.

KELLY: It's a huge ramp-up, yeah.

GLINTON: Yeah, exactly. And so - and one of the problems is actually not whether or not they can build the cars but whether they can build the batteries quickly enough to go into the cars and produce batteries for a whole number of platforms.

KELLY: Well, can you tell yet, is it a good car? Have you had the chance to drive it?

GLINTON: Well, I have not had the chance to drive this car. And...

KELLY: Yet.

GLINTON: Though, I've - yet.

KELLY: We'll hope to get you in there soon, yeah.

GLINTON: Yes, though I've ridden in it. But, you know, Tesla has gotten a lot of praise for the quality of its cars, though sort of that long-term quality has sort of fallen off a little bit. And there's no telling how well a car company can do when it goes from selling 4,400 cars to selling, you know, tens of thousands of them in a month.

KELLY: What would it take for Tesla to consider this car a victory, a win? I mean, we've talked about trying to persuade people they need an electric car. What does Tesla have to do to pull this off and say, OK, we did it?

GLINTON: Well, one of the things about the car business is anybody can make one good car. But it's really can you make 20 different cars, you know, year after year? That is the hallmark of a really great carmaker. But Elon Musk is not just betting on cars, he's betting on the electrification¹¹ of cars. He's betting on autonomous¹² cars. He's betting on revolutionizing the dealer¹³ process. He's built this gigantic battery factory that wants to cheapen and change how we manufacture batteries.

Oh, and by the way, while he's trying to do all of this, General Motors already has a car on the road that's doing exactly what the Model 3 says it's going to do. And every other carmaker has plans for a full-on electric car coming sometime in the future. So it's not like this is a space without competition. But what Elon wants to do is blow things up and change the way we do things.

(SOUNDBITE OF LJONES'S "JAZZ TECHNICIAN")

KELLY: That's NPR's Sonari Glinton.

1 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

2 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

3 musk   

n.麝香, 能发出麝香的各种各样的植物，香猫

参考例句：

• Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。
• She scented her clothes with musk.她用麝香使衣服充满了香味。

4 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

5 premise   

n.前提；v.提论，预述

参考例句：

• Let me premise my argument with a bit of history.让我引述一些史实作为我立论的前提。
• We can deduce a conclusion from the premise.我们可以从这个前提推出结论。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

8 retails   

n.零售( retail的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This book retails at 10 dollars overseas. 这本书的海外零售价是十美元。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This radio retails for ＄ 14.95. 这种收音机的零售价是14美元95美分。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 rebate   

v./n.折扣，回扣，退款；vt.给...回扣，给...打折扣

参考例句：

• You can claim a rebate on your tax.你可以要求退回部分税款。
• Customers are to benefit from a rebate on their electricity bills.顾客将从他们的电费退费中得到实惠。

10 ramping   

土堤斜坡( ramp的现在分词 )； 斜道； 斜路； （装车或上下飞机的）活动梯

参考例句：

• The children love ramping about in the garden. 孩子们喜欢在花园里追逐嬉戏，闹着玩。
• Have you ever seen a lion ramping around? 你看到过狮子暴跳吗？

11 electrification   

n.充电，电气化；起电；电化；带电

参考例句：

• Electrification of the countryside--yes, that, too, is impressive. 是的。农村电气化也是了不起的事。 来自演讲部分
• After electrification, it will readily stick to a wall or a ceiling. 起电后，它立即吸附到墙壁上或天花板上。 来自辞典例句

12 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

13 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。