永遠在路上的特斯拉產能雄心

This was supposed to be Tesla’s moment of triumph. The California electric car company had confidently predicted it would be pumping out 5,000 of its mass market Model 3 vehicles each week by the end of 2017. That volume would allow it to move out of its high-end niche and compete head to head with traditional automakers.

眼下本應是特斯拉(Tesla)的勝利時刻。這家加州電動車公司曾自信地預言，到2017年底每週將下線5000輛面向大衆市場的Model 3型電動車。這樣的產量將使特斯拉走出高端市場，與傳統汽車製造商展開直接競爭。

Instead, Tesla has been beset by a series of production snags — some workers are having to build battery packs by hand, parts have been delayed because of late design changes, and production lines are frequently halted for quality inspections. As a result, it was only able to produce 260 Model 3 vehicles in the third quarter, and has pushed back its 5,000 car per week goal to the end of March. The company also reported a bigger than expected third-quarter loss.

現實是，特斯拉受到一系列生產問題的困擾——部分工人不得不手工組裝電池組，部件因後期設計更改而延遲供貨，生產線經常因質量檢查而停工。其結果是，該公司第三季度每週只能生產260輛Model 3，並已將每週5000輛的目標推遲至明年3月底。該公司還報告了大於預期的第三季度虧損。

Tesla insists that these are merely teething problems as it remakes car manufacturing from the ground up. “There are no fundamental issues with Model 3 production or its supply chain, and we are confident in addressing the manufacturing bottleneck issues in the near-term,” a spokesman said.

特斯拉堅稱，這些只是該公司在徹底重塑汽車製造的過程中遭遇的初期問題。一名發言人表示：“Model 3的生產或供應鏈不存在根本問題，我們有信心在近期解決製造瓶頸問題。”

The company proudly noted that some of its manufacturing lines — including the seat assembly and paint shop — have “demonstrated a manufacturing ability” to handle 1,000 cars a week, and others have demonstrated “burst builds of about 500 a week”.

該公司自豪地指出，部分生產線（包括座椅裝配和噴漆車間）已經具有每週處理1000輛電動車的製造能力，其他生產線具有在突擊情況下每週生產約500輛的能力。

That still puts its factories in California and Nevada a long way from 5,000 cars a week. Although deliveries of the high end Model S and X are up, the company recently removed references to scheduling test drives from its Model 3 information page. That suggests that it will be a long time before ordinary drivers get anywhere near a Tesla electric car.

然而這意味着，特斯拉在加州和內華達的工廠距離每週5000輛的產能目標仍有很長一段路。雖然高端Model S和Model X車型的交付數量有所增加，但特斯拉最近已將預約試駕的內容從Model 3的信息頁面刪除。這似乎表明，普通駕駛者將要等上很久纔有機會體驗特斯拉電動車。

Tesla counters that focusing on production numbers misses the point because it is more than “just” a carmaker. As outlined in founder Elon Musk’s “Master Plan, Part Deux” last year, Tesla is seeking to create a “sustainable energy economy” by supplying solar panels, home energy storage and fully autonomous electric cars and trucks.

特斯拉反駁稱，只關注產量沒有抓住關鍵，因爲特斯拉不僅僅“只是”一家汽車製造商。正如特斯拉創始人埃隆?馬斯克(Elon Musk)去年發佈的《總規劃，第二部分》(Master Plan, Part Deux)所描述的，特斯拉正致力於通過供應太陽能電池板、家庭能源存儲以及完全自主駕駛的電動汽車和卡車，打造“可持續能源經濟”。