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國際時事跟讀 Ep. L297: Tesla's New Roadster Comes with Rocket Thrusters
Highlights 主題摘要
- Tesla has unveiled a thruster-equipped Roadster built with SpaceX, nearly nine years after its first prototype.
- Musk calls the car financially minor, but one analyst says it will become Tesla's flagship showcase.
- An analyst expects modest sales as Tesla shifts its focus from human-driven cars to robots and robotaxis.
Tesla has finally unveiled its second-generation Roadster, nearly nine years after first showing a prototype, and says production will begin in 2028. At a SpaceX test site in McGregor, Texas, the white two-seater, developed with Elon Musk's rocket company, drove upside down on a ramp using a suction system, then fired built-in thrusters to leap over a truck, twisting in mid-air before landing. Tesla shares rose 5% in premarket trading the following day.
特斯拉終於發表第二代 Roadster 跑車，距離首度展示原型車已近9年，並表示將於2028年投產。這輛白色雙座車由執行長馬斯克旗下火箭公司 SpaceX 參與開發，在德州馬格里戈的 SpaceX 測試場，靠吸附系統倒掛在坡道上行駛，接著啟動內建推進器躍過一輛卡車，在空中扭轉車身後落地。隔天，特斯拉股價在盤前交易上漲5%。
The car arrives with a long history of missed deadlines. In 2017, Tesla promised deliveries by 2020 and a range of 620 miles on a single charge; the new model manages just over 300 miles, less than half that figure. Musk has played down its financial importance, calling it a "small potato situation" in 2023. Even so, Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein argued that it would become Tesla's halo car, a flagship designed to showcase a brand's finest engineering and technology.
這款車的交期一再跳票。特斯拉2017年曾承諾2020年交車，單次充電可跑620英里；如今新車續航里程略高於300英里，不到當年承諾的一半。馬斯克本人也淡化這款車對公司財務的重要性，2023年形容它「不過是小事一樁」。不過，晨星（Morningstar）分析師戈德斯坦（Seth Goldstein）認為，Roadster 將成為特斯拉的「光環車款」，也就是車廠用來展現頂尖工程與技術的旗艦車。
According to Tesla, the Roadster can reach 60 miles per hour in under a second and exceed 230 miles per hour. No price was announced, but the reservation page lists a $50,000 deposit for a "Performance" version and $250,000 for a "Thrust" version, while an invite-only "Rocket" variant comes with a full flight system. Whether such features are legal on public roads remains unclear. Gene Munster of Deepwater Asset Management called the show "an engineering flex with no commercial value," and some observers suspected Musk was drumming up interest in merging Tesla and SpaceX.
特斯拉表示，Roadster 從靜止加速到時速60英里不用1秒，極速超過每小時230英里。官方並未公布售價，但預約頁面顯示，「Performance」版需支付5萬美元訂金，配備加速推進器的「Thrust」版則要25萬美元；另有僅限受邀的「Rocket」版，配有完整飛行系統。這些功能能否在公共道路上合法使用，目前仍不明朗。深水資產管理公司的 Gene Munster 批評這場發表會「只是工程炫技，沒有商業價值」；也有人猜測，馬斯克是在為特斯拉與 SpaceX 合併造勢。
Commercially, the Roadster is unlikely to move the needle. Goldstein expects annual sales of about 2,000, a fraction of the 1.6 million vehicles Tesla sold last year. The company is also pivoting away from cars built for human drivers: this year it stopped selling the Model S and X to make room for its Optimus humanoid robots, and it is building Cybercab, a robotaxi with no steering wheel or pedals. With third-quarter results due on October 21, analysts expect investors to focus on margins and cash flow rather than mid-air stunts.
就商業面來看，Roadster 很難帶來實質影響。戈德斯坦預估這款車每年約賣2,000輛，只是特斯拉去年160萬輛銷量的零頭。特斯拉也正把重心從人類駕駛的汽車移開：今年停售 Model S 和 Model X，騰出產能生產 Optimus 人形機器人，並正在打造沒有方向盤和踏板的自駕計程車 Cybercab。特斯拉將在10月21日公布第三季財報，分析師認為，投資人更在意的會是利潤率和現金流，而不是空中特技。
Keyword Drills 關鍵字
- Play down [verb phrase, to make something seem less important than it is]: Please don't play down the risks in your report.
- Halo car [noun phrase, a flagship model that shows off a carmaker's best technology]: This new model will serve as our halo car.
- Drum up [verb phrase, to create interest or support through effort]: The team is drumming up support for the budget.
- Move the needle [idiom, to make a noticeable difference]: Small price cuts won't move the needle on sales.
- Pivot away from [verb phrase, to shift focus or strategy away from something]: Many retailers are pivoting away from physical stores.
Reference article:
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/ait/202610160214.aspx
https://udn.com/news/story/6811/9820049
https://udn.com/news/story/6811/9818481
https://auto.ltn.com.tw/news/33200
https://auto.ltn.com.tw/news/33184
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/ait/202601290033.aspx