伊隆·馬斯克如何拯救特斯拉免於破產：英語精讀講義

We are at a turning point in transportation. 慣用語

我們正處於交通運輸的轉捩點。

Although gas cars still dominate the roads, 文法

雖然燃油車仍然佔據道路的主導地位，

it's becoming increasingly clear that the future of transport is electric,

但越來越明顯的是，未來的交通是電動化的，

and a lot of this excitement is because of one company.

而這種興奮很大程度上要歸功於一家公司。

Tesla is disrupting the automotive industry by creating affordable EVs of all kinds, 用詞

Tesla 正透過製造各種價格實惠的電動車來顛覆汽車行業，

but it almost didn't make it. 慣用語

但它差點沒能挺過來。

Success was a long shot, 慣用語

成功曾是個遙不可及的夢想，

and Elon Musk knew it.

而 Elon Musk 深知這一點。

When we first started uh uh Tesla and SolarCity uh we we thought they would fail.

當我們剛創立額、額，Tesla 和 SolarCity 時，額，我們、我們以為它們會失敗。

It's what um Tesla in particular we thought probably we have uh maybe 10% chance of success.

就是，嗯，特別是 Tesla，我們覺得大概只有，額，大約 10% 的成功機會。

This is not the story of a company that nearly died many times. 表達脈絡

這不是一家公司多次瀕臨倒閉的故事。

This is the story of a man who would not give up. 片語動詞

這是一個男人永不放棄的故事。

This is the story of Elon Musk's perseverance against all odds. 慣用語

這是 Elon Musk 排除萬難、堅持到底的故事。

In 2003 in Silicon Valley,

2003 年在矽谷，

two engineers created Tesla,

兩名工程師創立了 Tesla，

Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning.

他們是 Martin Eberhard 和 Marc Tarpenning。

They named it after Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla. 片語搭配

他們以塞爾維亞裔美國發明家 Nikola Tesla 的名字來命名。

Back then,

那時候，

Tesla was called Tesla Motors.

Tesla 被稱為 Tesla Motors。

They saw an opportunity to create an electric car after General Motors recalled the EV1, 講解

在通用汽車（GM）召回 EV1 之後，他們看到了製造電動車的機會，

the first mass-produced electric car in the modern era.

那是現代第一款量產的電動車。

It's unclear why GM did this.

目前尚不清楚 GM 為何這樣做。

It could have been because of a lack of demand,

可能是因為需求不足、

high production costs,

生產成本高昂，

or pressure from the oil and gas industry.

或者是來自石油和天然氣行業的壓力。

Either way, 表達脈絡

無論如何，

GM crushed the cars in a junkyard.

GM 在廢車場裡銷毀了這些汽車。

Elon came into the picture when the founders went looking for funding. 慣用語

當創始人們尋求資金時，Elon 出現了。

He made millions when the financial services company he co-founded,

他因為自己共同創辦的金融服務公司賺進數百萬美元，

X.com,

那家公司 X.com

merged with a rival and became PayPal.

與競爭對手合併後成為 PayPal。

When eBay bought PayPal in 2002,

當 eBay 在 2002 年收購 PayPal 時，

Elon walked away with $180 million. 片語動詞

Elon 帶著 1.8 億美元離開了。

He was very successful,

他非常成功，

but instead of calling it a career, 慣用語

但他並沒有就此停止腳步，

he sunk all his winnings into new ventures. 慣用語

而是將所有收益投入了新的創業項目中。

He put 100 million into SpaceX,

他向 SpaceX 投入了 1 億美元，

10 million into SolarCity,

向 SolarCity 投入 1000 萬美元，

and 70 million into Tesla,

向 Tesla 投入了 7000 萬美元，

including six and a half at the start,

其中包括一開始的 650 萬美元，

and became the chairman of the company's board.

並成為了公司董事會主席。

So all of the money just came from me personally.

所以所有的資金都完全由我個人出資。

Um

嗯

so I didn't want to ask people uh other investors for money if I thought we were going to die.

因此我不想向別人、額、其他投資者要錢，如果我覺得我們注定會完蛋的話。

2006 was a big year for Tesla.

2006 年對 Tesla 來說是重要的一年。

The Roadster made its official appearance,

Roadster 正式亮相，

a good-looking fast electric car.

這是一輛外型亮眼、速度極快的電動車。

But there were quality issues and a lot of production problems.

但當時存在品質問題和許多生產上的困難。

In the end,

最終，

Eberhard was ousted as CEO before the Roadster even went into production, 講解

在 Roadster 投入生產之前，Eberhard 就被免除了 CEO 的職務，

which didn't happen until 2008.

而量產直到 2008 年才實現。

Tesla was running out of money. 片語動詞

Tesla 當時已經快沒錢了。

The company budgeted 25 million for the development of the Roadster,

公司為 Roadster 的開發編列了 2500 萬美元的預算，

but it ended up costing nearly five times that. 講解

但最終花費了將近五倍的成本。

By the fall of 2008,

到了 2008 年秋天，

Tesla had only 9 million left to fund the entire company.

Tesla 只剩下 900 萬美元來支撐整家公司。

It was a tumultuous time with multiple CEOs coming and going, 慣用語

那是一段動盪的時期，多位 CEO 來來去去，

and in the end,

最後，

Elon was left in charge. 片語搭配

留下 Elon 來掌舵。

He said this in an interview about the big decision he had to make.

他在一次採訪中談到了自己必須做出的重大決定：

Do I let Tesla die, 表達脈絡

我是讓 Tesla 倒閉，

or do I make it live with a lot of pain and grief?

還是讓它在充滿痛苦與悲傷中活下來？

He chose to make Tesla live,

他選擇讓 Tesla 活下去，

but it couldn't have been more painful. 文法

但過程無比痛苦。

One of America's largest banks,

美國最大的銀行之一

Lehman Brothers, 文化背景

雷曼兄弟（Lehman Brothers）

collapsed,

倒閉了，

sinking the world economy into the worst recession since the Great Depression.

使全球經濟陷入了自經濟大恐慌以來最嚴重的衰退。

Plus,

此外，

SpaceX was close to being bankrupt after three failed rocket launches,

SpaceX 在三次火箭發射失敗後瀕臨破產，

and he was going through a divorce from his wife Justine. 片語動詞

而他正在經歷與妻子 Justine 的離婚。

Elon said 2008 was the worst year of his life,

Elon 說 2008 年是他生命中最糟糕的一年，

and he never thought he was someone capable of having a nervous breakdown,

他從未想過自己是一個會精神崩潰的人，

but came close to it.

但當時已經接近那個狀態了。

Elon fought hard to save his companies.

Elon 拼盡全力去拯救他的公司。

He cut 25% of Tesla's workforce and asked friends to help cover payroll, 片語搭配

他裁減了 Tesla 25% 的員工，並請朋友幫忙支付工資，

but by December 2008,

但到了 2008 年 12 月，

Tesla was about to die.

Tesla 已瀕臨倒閉。

Still,

儘管如此，

he didn't give up.

他沒有放棄。

He scraped together 20 million from various sources, 片語動詞

他從各種來源湊集了 2000 萬美元，

including the money he made investing in his cousin's data center startup,

包括他投資表弟的資料中心新創公司所賺的錢，

Everdream,

那家公司叫 Everdream，

which Dell had bought the year before.

Dell 在前一年買下了它。

Investors agreed to match what he cobbled up,

投資者同意拿出與他湊集的等額資金，

and in the end,

最終，

Elon managed to secure a $40 million dollar round of financing on Christmas Eve. 片語搭配

Elon 在平安夜成功獲得了 4000 萬美元的一輪融資。

It was the last hour of the last day that it was possible. 表達脈絡

那是可能達成交易的最後一天的最後一個小時。

Ashlee Vance wrote a biography about Elon Musk,

Ashlee Vance 寫了一本關於 Elon Musk 的傳記，

and there is one dinner conversation that Elon had with a Tesla investor that really shows his tenacity.

書中提到 Elon 與一位 Tesla 投資者共進晚餐時的對話，真實展現了他的韌性。

During that dinner,

在那次晚餐中，

Elon said,

Elon 說，

"I will spend my last dollar on these companies.

「我會把我的最後一分錢花在這些公司上。

If we have to move into Justine's parents' basement, 文法

如果我們不得不搬進 Justine 父母家的地下室，

we'll do it."

我們就去。」

Tesla barely pulled through in 2008, 片語動詞

Tesla 在 2008 年勉強挺了過來，

but needed more money to stay alive.

但還需要更多資金才能繼續存活。

That came in May 2009,

這筆錢在 2009 年 5 月到來，

when German automaker Daimler invested $50 million by taking a 10% stake in the company. 用詞

當時德國汽車製造商 Daimler 投資了 5000 萬美元，取得了該公司 10% 的股份。

Daimler and Tesla had already been working on an electric smart car.

Daimler 和 Tesla 先前就已經在合作開發電動 Smart 汽車。

The company also received a $465 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy, 文化背景

該公司還獲得了美國能源部 4.65 億美元的貸款，

which had a program backing clean tech startups.

該部門有一個支持清潔科技新創公司的計劃。

The following year,

隔年，

Tesla found a more stable solution when it went public at $17 a share. 用詞

Tesla 以每股 17 美元的價格上市，找到了一個更穩定的解決方案。

Despite the problems with the Roadster,

儘管 Roadster 出現了問題，

Tesla had achieved something no company had ever done before.

Tesla 還是取得了一項史無前例的成就。

It proved that electric cars could be cool and fast.

它證明了電動車也可以很酷且快速。

But the Roadster was too expensive for most people,

但 Roadster 對大多數人來說太貴了，

costing more than $100,000.

要價超過 10 萬美元。

So they built another car.

所以他們製造了另一款車。

In 2012,

2012 年，

Tesla stunned the world when it began shipping the Model S sedan.

Tesla 開始交付 Model S 轎車，震驚了全世界。

It took everyone's breath away. 慣用語

它讓所有人驚歎不已。

The Model S could go more than 300 miles on a single charge,

Model S 單次充電可行駛超過 300 英里，

and it was more affordable than the Roadster,

而且比 Roadster 更實惠，

although still expensive.

雖然仍然很昂貴。

Tesla's problems were still not over,

Tesla 的問題還沒有結束，

and nearly went bankrupt again in 2013.

2013 年又差點破產。

Even though the Model S was in high demand, 片語搭配

儘管 Model S 需求量很大，

customers who put down a $5,000 deposit were hesitant about going through with their purchase. 片語動詞

付了 5000 美元訂金的顧客對於是否完成購買感到猶豫。

There were a lot of reasons for this,

這其中有很多原因，

complaints about the interior,

包括對內裝的抱怨，

kinks with the car. 用詞

以及車輛的小瑕疵。

Some of the earliest versions didn't have parking sensors and cruise control,

早期的一些版本沒有停車雷達和定速巡航，

which are common in high-end vehicles.

這在高端車輛中是很常見的。

There were also concerns about the resale value.

人們還擔心其轉售價值。

We were operating with maybe one to two weeks of money.

「我們當時大約只能靠一到兩週的資金運作。」

When Elon found out about the problem,

當 Elon 發現這個問題時，

he did three things.

他做了三件事。

First,

第一，

he turned every Tesla employee into a salesperson. 文法

他把每一位 Tesla 員工都變成了銷售員。

They called everyone who put down a deposit and tried to convince them to go through with buying the car.

他們打電話給每一個付了訂金的人，試圖說服他們完成購車。

Second,

第二，

he convinced his friend Larry Page,

他說服了他的朋友Larry Page，

the CEO of Google,

也就是Google的執行長，

to buy Tesla if the company actually did run out of money.

如果公司真的耗盡資金，就收購 Tesla。

Finally,

最後，

Tesla shut down its factory when orders weren't coming in fast enough, 片語動詞

當訂單來得不夠快時，Tesla 關閉了工廠，

but did not admit this publicly,

但並沒有公開承認這一點，

or else it would have scared investors and sent the stock price plummeting. 講解

否則會嚇壞投資者並導致股價暴跌。

Instead,

相反地，

Tesla said it was closing down for maintenance,

Tesla 稱工廠因維修而關閉，

which was technically true, 表達脈絡

這在技術上是正確的，

but not the whole story.

但並非全部的事實。

The strategy worked.

這個策略奏效了。

On May 8,

5月8日，

2013,

2013年，

Tesla stunned Wall Street by posting its first ever profit as a public company. 講解

Tesla 作為一家上市公司發布了首次盈利報告，震驚了華爾街。

Tesla made 11 million on $562 million in sales after delivering 4,900 Model S's in the first quarter.

在第一季度交付了4900輛Model S後，Tesla創造了5.62億美元的銷售額，獲利1100萬美元。

Elon saved Tesla from death,

Elon把Tesla從死亡邊緣拉了回來，

again.

又一次。

But there were more hardships to come.

但接下來還有更多艱難的挑戰。

The company's problems were still not over.

公司的問題依然沒有結束。

It nearly went bankrupt again in 2018.

2018 年它再次瀕臨破產。

This time it had to do with the Model 3. 片語搭配

這次是因為 Model 3。

Elon's vision from the beginning was to build an affordable electric car,

Elon 一開始的願景就是製造一款價格實惠的電動車，

paid for by the more expensive cars, 文法

由較昂貴的車型來提供資金，

the Model S,

例如 Model S，

and also the Model X,

以及Model X，

which came out a few years earlier.

後者早幾年就已推出。

So what do you think?

「所以你們覺得如何？」

The Model 3 had a base price of $35,000.

Model 3 的基本價格為 3.5 萬美元。

This is kind of crazy,

「這有點瘋狂，」

but I I just learned uh just told that uh the total number of orders for the Model 3 in the past 24 hours has now passed 115,000.

「但是我、我剛得知、額、剛被告知，Model 3 在過去 24 小時的總訂單量已經超過 11.5 萬了。」

But the huge demand also meant the company had to produce the cars in time.

但龐大的需求也意味著公司必須及時生產這些汽車。

And frankly,

「坦白說，」

we're going to be in production hell. 慣用語

「我們將陷入生產地獄。」

Um

「嗯」

Welcome.

「歡迎。」

Welcome.

「歡迎。」

As the saying goes, 表達脈絡

俗話說，

if you're going through hell,

如果你正經歷地獄般的折磨，

keep going.

就繼續走下去。

Tesla struggled to meet its production targets.

Tesla 為了達到生產目標而掙扎。

It initially wanted to produce 5,000 Model 3s a week,

它最初希望每週生產 5000 輛 Model 3，

but in the first three months of 2018,

但在 2018 年的前三個月，

it made just 9,800 of them.

只生產了 9800 輛。

Tesla was bleeding money as it tried to increase production of the car. 慣用語

Tesla 在試圖提高產量的同時不斷流失資金。

It lost a billion dollars in the first half of 2019 and scrambled to raise capital. 片語搭配

2019 年上半年虧損了 10 億美元，並急忙籌集資金。

Elon said the company was close to death within single-digit weeks.

Elon 表示，公司離倒閉只剩個位數週。

He even slept on the factory floor because he didn't have time to go home,

他甚至睡在工廠的地板上，因為他沒有時間回家，

and also because he says he wanted to suffer more than any other employee.

而且他也說，因為他想承受比任何其他員工更多的痛苦。

Despite the torturous production process, 文法

儘管生產過程備受折磨，

Tesla managed to pull through once again.

Tesla 再次挺過了難關。

It turned a corner in the second half of 2019 by delivering over 92,000 Model 3s in the fourth quarter. 慣用語

它在 2019 年下半年迎來了轉機，第四季度交付了超過 92,000 輛 Model 3。

That's an increase from the same period the year before,

與前一年的同期相比，

or year-over-year, 用詞

也就是年增率，

of 46%.

增長了 46%。

And the latest model,

而且最新的車型，

the Model Y,

Model Y，

was ahead of schedule.

還提前完成了進度。

Tesla has managed to survive.

Tesla 成功生存了下來。

Now it's looking ahead to many ambitious plans,

現在它正放眼許多雄心勃勃的計畫，

including fully autonomous driving,

包括完全自動駕駛、

a million-mile battery,

百萬英里電池，

and driverless cabs called robotaxis.

以及被稱為 robotaxis 的無人駕駛計程車。

Tesla's stock price hovers around $1,000 a share as of the making of this video, 片語搭配

在製作這部影片時，Tesla 的股價徘徊在每股 1,000 美元左右，

but the biggest bulls see it going up way more. 用詞

但最樂觀的投資者認為它還會大幅上漲。

Tesla has endured many near-death experiences, 表達脈絡

Tesla 經歷了多次瀕死體驗，

and through it all,

在這一切之中，

Elon has never,

Elon 從來、

ever given up.

從來沒有放棄過。

It's hard to stay alive as a car company,

「作為一家汽車公司，要生存下去很難，

honestly.

老實說。」

Yeah.

「是啊。」

Not only is Tesla alive, 文法

Tesla 不僅活了下來，

but because of his vision,

而且因為他的遠見、

ambition,

野心，

and relentless drive,

和不懈的動力，

its future is still being written. 慣用語

它的未來仍在書寫中。

Thanks so much for watching.

非常感謝您的觀看。

I'm Cindy Pom.

我是 Cindy Pom。

If you liked what you saw,

如果你喜歡這支影片，

give us a like,

請給我們按個讚，

and don't forget to subscribe to my new channel.

別忘了訂閱我的新頻道。

While you're at it,

順便，

hit that notification bell so you'll know when I upload a new video.

按下小鈴鐺，這樣當我上傳新影片時你就會知道了。

I hope to do a lot more stories on topics that I find super interesting.

我希望能做更多我覺得超級有趣的題材的故事。

See you soon.

很快再見。