特斯拉將要或正在面對的中國問題

Tesla Motors’ international job listings say it all.

特斯拉汽車的全球招聘信息說明了一切。

In Norway, a tiny country of 5.1 million people where the electric automaker’s Model S was one of the best-selling cars in 2014, there are about 90 job openings. In China, a massive economy of 1.35 billion people where weaker than expected sales led to executive turnover and a recent restructuring, there’s just one lone position.

在僅有510萬人的挪威，該公司的Model S轎車是2014年最暢銷車型之一。在這裏，特斯拉還要招聘約90名員工。而在中國這個人口達到13.5億的龐大經濟體，特斯拉的產品銷量低於預期，導致了高層更迭以及最近的重組。在這裏，特斯拉只打算再招一個人。

That wasn’t the story nearly a year ago when the first Model S sedans were delivered to customers in China. Tesla, aiming to meet lofty sales goals, went on a hiring spree (and eventually amassed a staff of 600 people), opened stores and service centers, and began an aggressive rollout of its network of free fast-charging stations known as superchargers.

不到一年前，Model S轎車首次出現在中國消費者面前，當時的情況可不是這樣。那時特斯拉制定了很高的銷售目標，併爲此大舉招兵買馬（最終組建了600人的隊伍），設立專賣店和服務中心，並開始積極建設超級充電站網絡，以便免費爲用戶提供快速充電服務。

Those efforts fell short. Tesla’s first year in China didn’t pan out as expected. The company sold an estimated 3,500 cars in 2014, below its sales goal and behind electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles produced by Chinese rivals BYD and BAIC. Sales continued to lag in the beginning of 2015.

但這些努力並未獲得回報。在進入中國市場的第一個年頭，特斯拉的表現沒有達到預期。2014年，該公司在中國的汽車銷量估計爲3500輛，低於它自己設定的目標，也不如中國競爭對手比亞迪和北京汽車生產的純電動汽車以及插電式混合動力汽車。2015年初，特斯拉的汽車銷量依然落後。

Elon Musk, Tesla’s chairman, chief executive, and largest stockholder, has placed much of the blame on amisconception among Chinese consumers that charging is difficult there. During an earnings call last month, Musk said the company was working to fix that perception problem.

特斯拉董事長、首席執行官及最大股東埃隆o穆斯克認爲，這主要是因爲在中國消費者中有種誤解，以爲充電是件難事。上個月，在業績電話會議上，穆斯克說特斯拉正在着手扭轉這種觀念。

However, Tesla’s China problem goes beyond a failure to communicate and educate Chinese consumers about charging the Model S.

然而，特斯拉在中國遇到的問題不僅僅是溝通不暢以及未能讓中國消費者真正瞭解Model S轎車在充電方面的表現。

“This isn’t just a misconception, it’s a concrete problem,” said Lilia Xie, a research associate with Boston-based Lux Research. “China’s infrastructure, in many ways, is not ideal for supporting electric vehicles.”

波士頓研究諮詢機構Lux Research研究員Lilia Xie說：“並不只是觀念上的誤解，這裏存在着切實的問題。在很多方面，中國的基礎設施對支持電動汽車都不理想。”

Most families don’t have private garages and the population is very concentrated in urban areas. That means car owners typically park in public garages, on the street and at work, making it difficult to install private charging infrastructure, Xie said.

她指出，大多數中國家庭都沒有私人車庫，而且中國的人口高度集中在城鎮地區。也就是說，中國的有車一族通常都把車停在公共停車場、路邊或者工作單位，因此很難在中國安裝私人充電設備。

Tesla is offering free at-home charging in an effort to ease concerns and continues to add to its 200-plus network of superchargers. It’s also working with property owners of residential buildings to set up charging infrastructure. Changing public perceptions in China is further complicated by consumers’ general misgivings about adopting new technology, particularly with cars. Xie said.

爲了消除用戶的顧慮，特斯拉爲他們免費提供在家充電服務。該公司已在中國設立了200多座超級充電站，而且還在建設新的充電站。它還通過和業主合作的方式在住宅樓安裝充電設施。Xie認爲，中國消費者普遍對採用新技術心懷疑慮，特別是汽車領域的新技術。這讓扭轉公衆觀念的工作變得更爲複雜。