新闻周刊:马斯克的豪赌:特斯拉能为汽车制造带来革新吗?(4)（在线收听）

Musk had a good run of living up to his hype, until his ability to deliver the Model 3 slipped well behind his promises to start shipping in the beginning of 2018.

马斯克一直在大肆宣传，直到他交付Model 3的能力远远落后于他在2018年初开始发货的承诺。

At present, no cheaper Model 3s will be rolling off the assembly lines in the hundreds of thousands anytime soon.

目前，在短时间内，将不会有数十万台更便宜的Model 3型汽车从生产线上下线。

And according to some reports, the lower-priced versions won’t reach customers until 2020.

据一些报道称，低价版本要到2020年才能到达消费者手中。

That’s a problem, because most analysts agree Tesla’s survival is pegged to its ability to deliver a $35,000 car in big numbers.

这是一个问题，因为大多数分析师都认为，特斯拉的生存取决于它能否大批量生产价值3.5万美元的汽车。

Making matters worse, a growing litany of complaints and safety concerns have dogged the company.

更糟糕的是，越来越多的投诉和安全问题困扰着该公司。

The much-touted Autopilot driver-assist system has been implicated in several crashes, a few of them serious and one of them fatal.

备受吹捧的自动驾驶驾驶辅助系统与几起撞车事故有关，其中几起严重事故，还有一起致命事故。

Earlier this year, Consumer Reports rated the Tesla Model 3 one of the worst-braking cars it had ever tested.

今年早些时候，《消费者报告》对特斯拉Model 3进行了评估，认为它是测试过的刹车性能最差的汽车之一。

A software update to the car—which, like Tesla’s other models, is available with the Autopilot system—apparently helped,

与特斯拉的其他车型一样，这款车的软件更新也可以在自动驾驶系统上使用。

but concerns recently rose again when Tesla dropped a standard factory braking test, apparently to boost lagging production rates.

但最近，人们的担忧再次升温，因为特斯拉为提高落后的生产率放弃了一项标准的工厂制动测试。

(The company has claimed it thoroughly tests braking in other ways.)

(该公司称，已经通过其他方式对刹车进行了彻底的测试。)

Meanwhile, Tesla’s highly regarded top engineer, Doug Field—a former Apple executive considered among the most influential in the valley—left in early July amid the struggle to fix production woes, the latest in a long string of management departures over the past few years.

与此同时，特斯拉备受尊敬的顶级工程师道格·菲尔德——被认为硅谷最有影响力人物之一的前苹果高管——这是过去几年一连串管理人员离职事件中的最新一起。

And a former employee has turned whistleblower, alleging Tesla shipped cars with dangerously damaged versions of its potentially highly flammable batteries, drawing a $1 million lawsuit from the company over what it says are false claims.

一名前雇员成为举报人，指控特斯拉汽车运送的汽车中含有危险的、可能高度易燃的电池，该公司以虚假索赔为由，向特斯拉提起了100万美元的诉讼。

It doesn’t help that a federal tax credit that effectively knocked $7,500 off the price of a Tesla is phasing out.

一项联邦税收抵免政策实际上使特斯拉的售价降低了7500美元，但该政策并没有起到什么作用。

Even some of Tesla’s customers, whose loyalty is the stuff of legend—500,000 buyers have plunked down $1,000 deposits on the Tesla 3, sight unseen—may be getting tired of the delays and bad news.

50万名买家在看不见实体的情况下，在特斯拉3上投入了1000美元的定金，这种传奇般忠诚的特斯拉客户，可能已经厌倦了延迟和坏消息。

One financial analyst estimates that about a quarter of those advance orders have been canceled.

一位金融分析师估计，约四分之一的预购订单已被取消。

Wall Street is growing increasingly dubious as well.

华尔街也越来越可疑。

Investors have shorted more than 35 million shares of the company’s stock—essentially betting the stock price will dive—saddling it with the distinction of being America’s most shorted.

投资者已经做空了该公司3500多万股股票——本质上是押注股价会跳水——让它背上了“美国最短线”的标签。

The stock price recently spiked 15 percent in one day on a less-grim-than-expected quarterly earnings report that included the company’s prediction it will be profitable by year’s end.

该公司股价最近一天内飙升了15%，原因是该公司公布的季度收益报告没有预期的那么糟糕，其中包括该公司预计年底前将实现盈利。

But that still leaves the stock down $35 from mid-September last year.

但该公司股价仍较去年9月中旬下跌35美元。

In March, Moody downgraded Tesla’s credit rating, flipping the company’s outlook from “stable” to “negative.”

今年3月，穆迪将特斯拉的信用评级从“稳定”调降至“负面”。