密歇根新闻广播 马斯克的弗林特隧道

It's not news that Flint has been struggling to get clean water into its homes and businesses, except maybe to Elon Musk¹.

He's the visionary behind PayPal, Space X and Tesla. This week Musk tweeted he's ready to deliver fresh water to the city. But the offer that has Flint officials wondering what, if anything, is next … looks awfully² transparent³ to faithful Musk watchers. Same for people who know just what happened to the city and what it will take to fix it.

Mark Edwards is the Virginia Tech researcher who helped identify the scale of Flint's problem. He told The Detroit News that Musk should be, quote, "more focused on meeting" his Model 3 production goals.

The good professor is exactly right.

A major investor⁴ in Tesla urged Musk to, quote, "just concentrate on the core task. A time of peace and quiet is what is needed to work through these issues."

Good luck. The words peace and quiet don't belong in the same sentence as "Elon Musk." Like the guy who sits in the White House, Musk can't let a shot pass, can't let the Twitter app rest, can't acknowledge when he's out of his depth.

But Musk is. Despite hitting his quarterly production numbers with a heroic push, Tesla continues to teeter. It's perhaps the most shorted stock on American exchanges. That's dollars and cents evidence that a growing number of investors⁵ think he'll likely fail. His push through self-described "production hell" is a lesson in how not to produce a car.

In the real global auto⁶ industry, any manufacturing engineer who proposed to reconfigure the assembly line after launch to decommission costly⁷ robots only recently purchased to erect⁸ a third assembly line in a tent evoking⁹ a wartime motor pool would be shown the door.

Yesterday.

Not Musk, in part because he essentially¹⁰ controls Tesla's board. And because there still are enough investors who, quote, "believe" in him no matter what their lyin' eyes see.

Tesla still is not profitable. It burns enormous amounts of cash and it sits on a pile that belongs to would-be buyers waiting, waiting, waiting for their Model 3s. Games like these would not be tolerated from any other automaker – and that's the point, isn't it?

Look, time is running short for Tesla. If the automaker can't quicken the pace of Model 3 production, and do it with consistency¹¹, it'll likely be forced to ask investors for yet more capital this year.

Tesla also is on track to be the first American automaker to begin losing the $7,500 federal tax credit for its vehicles. After December 31, the credit will begin to phase out for Tesla buyers because the company will have exceeded the limit allowed by federal legislation. Others like General Motors will be up next. Meantime, Musk will lose an advantage in the marketplace that is particularly important to buyers of lower-priced Model 3s.

What's not sustainable can't be sustained. Saying so isn't hating. It's reality. Just ask the folks in Flint.

Daniel Howes is a columnist¹² at The Detroit News. Views expressed in his essays are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Radio, its management or the station licensee, The University of Michigan.

1 musk   

n.麝香, 能发出麝香的各种各样的植物，香猫

参考例句：

• Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。
• She scented her clothes with musk.她用麝香使衣服充满了香味。

2 awfully   

adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地

参考例句：

• Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
• I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。

3 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

4 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

5 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

6 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

7 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

8 erect   

n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的

参考例句：

• She held her head erect and her back straight.她昂着头，把背挺得笔直。
• Soldiers are trained to stand erect.士兵们训练站得笔直。

9 evoking   

产生，引起，唤起( evoke的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Some occur in organisms without evoking symptoms. 一些存在于生物体中，但不发生症状。
• Nowadays, the protection of traditional knowledge is evoking heat discussion worldwide. 目前，全球都掀起了保护传统知识的热潮。

10 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

11 consistency   

n.一贯性，前后一致，稳定性；(液体的)浓度

参考例句：

• Your behaviour lacks consistency.你的行为缺乏一贯性。
• We appreciate the consistency and stability in China and in Chinese politics.我们赞赏中国及其政策的连续性和稳定性。

12 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。