流利阅读 2019.1.28 Tesla doesn’t need to sell cars in China to succeed there

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Tesla doesn’t need to sell cars in China to succeed there
特斯拉不需要在中国销售汽车取得成功

When Elon Musk broke ground on Tesla Inc.’s Gigafactory in Shanghai earlier this month, he wasn’t just thinking about how many Teslas he’ll sell in China. He was thinking about how many he might be able to share.
本月早些时候，伊隆·马斯克宣布特斯拉公司在上海的超级工厂开工，当时，他不仅仅在思考他将在中国卖出多少辆特斯拉，还在考虑他可以共享多少辆特斯拉。

Musk isn’t alone. Global automobile manufacturers are scrambling to develop services that will allow Chinese car owners to rent out their vehicles when they’re not driving them. According to one recent analysis, such services could hire out as many as 2 million cars in 2020, up from roughly 100,000 in 2017.
这样想的人并不止马斯克一个。 全球的汽车制造商都在争先恐后地开展共享服务，让中国的车主在他们不驾驶汽车时出租他们的汽车。根据最近的一项分析，在 2020 年，这些服务可以出租多达 200 万辆汽车，在 2017 年，这个数字大约是 10 万。

The real revolution will arrive in a few years, when self-driving cars hit China’s roads. At that point, transportation will become truly on-demand: A renter will merely need to notify a car of his or her location, and the vehicle will race over.
真正的革命将在几年内到来，届时，自动驾驶汽车会奔驰在中国的道路上。那时起，交通将变成真正的随叫随到：租客只需通知车辆他或她的位置，车辆就会迅速地前来接驾。

This isn’t science fiction. In 2016, Elon Musk wrote that once regulators approved self-driving cars, owners would only need to “tap a button on the Tesla phone app” to send their cars off to generate income “potentially exceeding the monthly loan or lease cost.” He estimated the feature could arrive as early as the end of 2019. Tesla also intends to operate its own network of driverless cars, taking a cut of each ride that could be as high as 30 percent, in line with current ride-sharing practices.
这并不是科幻小说。伊隆·马斯克在 2016 年写道，一旦监管部门批准了自动驾驶汽车，车主只需“点击特斯拉手机应用程序上的一个按钮”，就可以派出自己的汽车，由此产生的收入“或许可以超过每月贷款或租赁成本”。据马斯克估计，该服务最早可能在 2019 年年底实现。特斯拉还打算运营自己的无人驾驶汽车网络，每次打车中的抽成将高达 30％，这与目前共享汽车行业的行情一致。

In China, Tesla and others will have to compete against cheap taxi fares and abundant public transit. Still, with the transition to autonomous electric vehicles already underway on the mainland, China obviously holds great potential for Tesla’s model.
在中国，特斯拉和其他汽车厂商将不得不与低廉的出租车费用和无处不在的公共交通竞争。尽管如此，随着大陆已经开始向自动电动汽车过渡，特斯拉的商业模式显然在中国有着巨大的潜力。

————— 文章来源 / 彭博社

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重点词汇
break ground
破土动工，开始；开拓新局面

• They broke ground on the new library last month.
• The company is known for breaking ground in the field of wastewater treatment.

manufacturer/ˌmænjuˈfæktʃərər/
n. 制造商，厂商

• a computer manufacturer
• a doll manufacturer

scramble/ˈskræmbl/
v. 争抢，争夺

• scramble to do sth
• scramble for sth
• Shoppers were scrambling to get the best bargains.
• Shoppers were scrambling for the best bargains.

rent out
出租

• He rents rooms in his house out to students.

hire out
往外出租
She hires out a dress for the wedding.

revolution/ˌrevəˈluːʃn/
n. 巨变，大变革

• Industrial Revolution
• A revolution in information technology is taking place.

on-demand/ˌɑːn dɪˈmænd/
adj. 按需的

regulator/ˈreɡjuleɪtər/
n. 监管者，监管机构
government regulators
federal regulators

generate/ˈdʒenəreɪt/
v. 产生，引起

• generate thinking
• generate electricity
• generate public interest

feature/ˈfiːtʃər/
n. 特征，特点；特写或者专题节目

• a special feature on education
• This product has no particular distinguishing features.

fare/fer/
n. 车费，路费

transit/ˈtrænzɪt/
n. 交通运输系统