Electric shock of the new—How to be the next Tesla

A traffic jam of upstarts is vying to follow in Elon Musk’s tyre tracks. Does any stand a chance?

Upstart??n. /??pstɑ?t/(disapproving) 自命不凡的新上任者；狂妄自大的新手

vie ?v. /va?/( vying vied vied /?va???/ ?)?~ (with sb) (for sth) ?激烈競爭；爭奪?? She was surrounded by men all vying for her attention. 她周圍盡是競相博得她青睞的男子。? Screaming fans vied to get closer to their idol. 尖聲喊叫的崇拜者爭先恐后地涌向他們的偶像。

CARMAKING IS LITTERED with?defunct marques, from Diatto and Hupmobile to Mercer and Whitlock. America?spawned?around 250 firms by the 1910s. As the 20th century wound to a close it had three that mattered: Ford, General Motors (GM) and Chrysler. In the past few years an electric version of the early American automobile boom is unfolding?on a global scale.

Be littered with:充滿···；散落著···。使雜亂

defunct ?adj. /d??f??kt/不再存在的；不再起作用的；不再使用的

marque ?n. /mɑ?k/ 知名品牌（尤指汽車）?? the Porsche marque 保時捷的品牌

spawn ?/sp??n/ ?1.(魚、蛙等)產(chǎn)卵；2.?( often disapproving ) 引發(fā)；引起；導致；造成??The band's album spawned a string of hit singles. 這支樂隊的專輯繁衍出一連串走紅的單曲唱片。3.名詞，（魚、蛙等的）卵

unfold ?v. /?n?f??ld/ 1.（使）展開；打開??to unfold a map 展開地圖2.（使）逐漸展現(xiàn)；展示；透露?The audience watched as the story unfolded before their eyes. 觀眾注視著劇情逐漸地展開。?She unfolded her tale to us. 她向我們傾吐了她的故事

Chinese startups like Aiways, Li Auto, Nio, WM Motor and Xpeng are already making electric vehicles (EVs) in their thousands. In Europe, Croatia’s Rimac and Spain’s Hispano Suiza are building hypercars, while Britain’s Arrival is manufacturing electric vans. American companies such as Canoo, Fisker, Lordstown, Lucid and Rivian hope to start full-scale production soon. Foxconn, a Taiwanese contract manufacturer better known for making apple’s iPhones, may soon also be assembling electric cars for others. As for apple, its next gadget?could be an iCar.

Hypercar：指比超跑 supercar 更高級的跑車? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?Gadget??n. /?ɡ?d??t/ 小器具；小裝置

Most of the insurgents are loss-making. Some have yet to earn any revenue. But all see a chance to grab?a slice of an industry that has turned decisively in the direction of battery power (see chart 1)).?Everyone wants to be the next Tesla, which has successfully?used batteries and clever software to take on the internal combustion?engine. In the process Elon Musk's firm has become the world's most valuable car company, worth more than the next three biggest carmakers combined.

the internal combustion?engine：內(nèi)燃機? ? ? ? ? ?combustion n. /k?m?b?st??n/ 1.燃燒；2.燃燒過程

Tesla's $6oobn valuation serves as a?"torch at the front", says Engelbert Wimmer of e&Co,?a consultancy.?Now investors are looking for the next beacon. Nio listed?in New York?in?2018.?Xpeng and Li followed suit?last?year.?All are worth as much or more than many established carmakers.?Arrival and several of the American firms have?used mergers with special-purpose?acquisition companies, or SPACs,?as a shortcut to public?markets—and to valuations in the billions.?Patrick von Herz of Lincoln International,?an investment bank,?calls?it a?"global feeding frenzy".?He Xiaopeng,?Xpeng's boss, has said he expects the market to swell to?300?or so firms before settling at around ten. How do the challengers avoid the fate of the forgotten?

beacon ?n. /?bi?k?n/ 1.（指引車船等的）燈標，燈塔；立標??He was a beacon of hope for the younger generation. 他是年輕一代的希望之燈。2.（導航）無線電信標臺；3.（昔日）烽火

established ：在這里做形容詞，釋義為—well known and respected in a job, etc. that they have been doing for a long time 著名的；成名的；公認的；資深的；老牌的 ?an established actor 著名演員

SPAC：special-purpose?acquisition company的縮寫，直譯為“特殊目的并購公司”，也稱作“SPAC平臺”，國內(nèi)常說的借殼上市。是美國資本市場特有的一種上市公司形式。其目的是為了并購一家優(yōu)質(zhì)的企業(yè)（目標公司），使其快速成為美國主板上市公司。作為一個上市平臺（殼公司），SPAC只有現(xiàn)金，而沒有實際業(yè)務。目標公司與SPAC合并即可實現(xiàn)上市，并同時獲得SPAC的資金。（參考：美國聯(lián)合商業(yè)協(xié)會-AGBA；鏈接：https://www.zhihu.com/question/57079844/answer/1117838732）

feeding frenzy??n. ?1.（鯊魚等魚群的）瘋狂捕食；2.（對某物的）集體狂熱追求；（人群的）瘋搶

譯文

A traffic jam of?upstarts?is?vying?to follow in Elon Musk’s tyre tracks. Does any stand a chance?

一群后起之秀正爭相效仿埃隆?馬斯克(Elon?Musk)。有機會嗎?

CARMAKING?IS LITTERED with?defunct marques, from Diatto and Hupmobile to Mercer and Whitlock. America?spawned?around 250 firms by the 1910s. As the 20th century wound to a close it had three that mattered: Ford, General Motors (GM) and Chrysler. In the past few years an electric version of the early American automobile boom is?unfolding?on a global scale.

汽車制造行業(yè)充滿了不在存在的傳說品牌。從Diatto，HUPmobile到Mercer、whitlock。1910年代，美國曾經(jīng)孵化出250個車企。在20世紀，來來去去誕生了三家舉足輕重的企業(yè)：福特，通用汽車和克萊斯勒。最近幾年，全球電動汽車的發(fā)展如同美國早期汽車市場熱一樣展現(xiàn)在人們面前。

Chinese startups like Aiways, Li Auto, Nio, WM Motor and Xpeng are already making electric vehicles (EVs) in their thousands. In Europe, Croatia’s Rimac and Spain’s Hispano Suiza are building hypercars, while Britain’s Arrival is manufacturing electric vans. American companies such as Canoo, Fisker, Lordstown, Lucid and Rivian hope to start full-scale production soon. Foxconn, a Taiwanese contract manufacturer better known for making apple’s iPhones, may soon also be assembling electric cars for others. As for apple, its next?gadget?could be an iCar.

中國的初創(chuàng)企業(yè)像是愛馳汽車（Aiways），理想汽車（LiAuto），蔚來汽車（Nio）和威馬汽車（WM Motor）和小鵬汽車（Xpeng）已經(jīng)生產(chǎn)了數(shù)以千計的電動交通工具。在歐洲，克羅地亞的Rimac和西班牙的Hispano Suiza正在制造終極跑車，與此同時，英國的Arrival正在制造電動貨車。美國企業(yè)像是卡諾（Canoo），菲斯克（Fisker），洛茲敦（Lordstown），Lucid?和Rivian希望可以馬上展開全面生產(chǎn)。富士康，一家以為蘋果代工出名的代工廠，可能馬上為其他車企組裝電動汽車。至于蘋果，它的下一個產(chǎn)品可能是icar。（蘋果計劃推出的智能電動汽車）

Most of the?insurgents?are loss-making. Some have yet to earn any revenue. But all see a chance to grab?a slice of an industry that has turned decisively in the direction of battery power (see chart 1)).?Everyone wants to be the next Tesla, which has successfully?used batteries and clever software to take on the internal?combustion?engine. In the process Elon Musk's firm has become the world's most valuable car company, worth more than the next three biggest carmakers combined.

絕大多數(shù)的電動汽車行業(yè)挑戰(zhàn)者們都是虧損狀態(tài)。有一些甚至沒有產(chǎn)生任何收益。但是，大家都看到該行業(yè)已經(jīng)明確向電力驅(qū)動轉(zhuǎn)型，想要乘機分一杯羹（見表1）。大家都想成為下一位特斯拉，它成功使用蓄電池和巧妙的軟件系統(tǒng)控制著內(nèi)燃機。在這個過程中，馬克斯的企業(yè)成為全世界最有價值的車企，價值超過后三家世界最大汽車制造公司的價值總和。

Tesla's $6oobn valuation serves as a?"torch at the front", says Engelbert Wimmer of e&Co,?a consultancy.?Now investors are looking for the next?beacon. Nio listed?in New York?in?2o18.?Xpeng and Li followed suit?last?year.?All are worth as much or more than many?established?carmakers.?Arrival and several of the American firms have?used mergers with special-purpose?acquisition companies, or SPACs,?as a shortcut to public?markets—and to valuations in the billions.?Patrick von Herz of Lincoln International,?an investment bank,?calls?it a?"global feeding frenzy".?He Xiaopeng,?Xpeng's boss, has said he expects the market to swell to?3oo or so firms before settling at around ten. How do the challengers avoid the fate of the forgotten?

咨詢企業(yè)e&Co的顧問Engelbert Wimmer?表示，特斯拉6千億估值就像是“前線的火炬”?，F(xiàn)在投資者正在尋找下一家燈塔。蔚來汽車2018年在美國上市，小鵬汽車和理想汽車緊隨其后，去年（2020）上市。這幾家的估值都和很多老牌汽車制造商不相上下，甚至更多。Arrival和幾家美國企業(yè)通過并購SPACS（特殊目的并購公司）作為上市捷徑，還有獲得數(shù)以十億計以上的估值。投行林肯國際的Patrick von Herz將此稱為“全球范圍內(nèi)的瘋狂廝殺”。小鵬汽車的老板何小鵬（音譯）表示他預期市場將暴增至差不多300家車企之后，大概活下來10家左右可以穩(wěn)定局面。挑戰(zhàn)者們?nèi)绾伪苊獗贿z忘？