特斯拉 (TSLA) 2011 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Tesla Motors second quarter 2011 financial results Q&A conference call. At this time all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later we will conduct a question and answer session with instructions following at that time. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded.

女士們、先生們，大家好！歡迎參加特斯拉汽車2011年第二季財務業績問答電話會議。目前所有與會者均處於聆聽模式。稍後我們將進行問答環節，屆時將進行相應指示。 （操作員指示）提醒一下，本次電話會議正在錄音。

And now I'll turn the call over to Jeff Evanson. Please begin.

現在我將把電話交給傑夫·埃文森。請開始。

Thank you, Tyrone, and good afternoon everyone. Welcome to Tesla Motors second quarter 2011 financial results and Q&A session. I'm joined here today by Elon Musk, Chairman, Chief Product Architect and CEO, and Deepak Ahuja, our Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝泰隆，大家下午好！歡迎參加特斯拉汽車2011年第二季財報發布及問答環節。今天，與我一同出席的還有特斯拉董事長、首席產品架構師兼執行長馬斯克，以及我們的財務長迪帕克·阿胡賈。

00 p.m. Pacific time today. The shareholder letter and the Q2 financial results and the webcast of this Q&A session are all available at the Company's investor relations website at ir.teslamotors.com.

今天太平洋時間下午 00 點。股東信函、第二季度財務業績以及本問答環節的網路直播均可在公司投資者關係網站 ir.teslamotors.com 上取得。

We've made some effort in this letter to answer some of your questions up front, but starting our new practice this quarter, this call will consist of some brief remarks by Elon followed by time for your questions and our answers. We will conduct the Q&A live, so please log in now if you wish to ask a question by pressing star then one.

我們已盡力在這封信中提前解答大家的一些問題，但從本季度開始，我們將採用新的營運模式，本次電話會議將由馬斯克先簡短發言，然後是提問和我們的解答時間。我們將進行現場問答，因此如果您想提問，請立即登錄，點擊星號，然後點擊一號。

During the course of this call we may discuss our business outlook and make other forward-looking statements. Such statements are only predictions based on management's current expectations. Actual events or results could differ materially from those predictions due to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those discussed in the risk factors section of our most recent Form S-1 registration statement filed on June 2, 2011 with the FCC.

在本次電話會議中，我們可能會討論我們的業務前景並做出其他前瞻性陳述。此類陳述僅基於管理層目前的預期。由於許多風險和不確定因素，實際事件或結果可能與這些預測有重大差異，包括我們於2011年6月2日向聯邦通訊委員會 (FCC) 提交的最新S-1表格註冊聲明中風險因素部分所述的風險和不確定因素。

In addition, any forward-looking statements represent our views only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date. We specifically disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

此外，任何前瞻性陳述僅代表我們截至今日的觀點，不應被視為代表我們任何後續日期的觀點。我們明確聲明不承擔更新這些前瞻性陳述的任何義務。

And now let me pass the call to Elon.

現在讓我把電話轉給埃隆。

Thanks, Jeff. So if people have been listening in on the calls on prior quarters, you know that we've usually been pretty circumspect in our comment about the quarter results. But in this case I think I just want to be accurate. This was the best quarter in Tesla's history. It was just phenomenal across the board, and we saw a tremendous amount for Roadster, for Model S, well over 5,000 deposits, so almost all that -- all of next year's production of Model S. And we've obviously signed the $100 million deal with Toyota. We're actually in discussions with them for a deal that an order of magnitude larger than that.

謝謝，傑夫。如果有人聽過前幾季的電話會議，你們就會知道，我們對季度業績的評論通常相當謹慎。但這次，我想我只是想準確一點。這是特斯拉史上最好的一個季度。整體表現非常出色，Roadster 和 Model S 的訂單量非常大，超過 5000 份，幾乎相當於明年 Model S 的全部產量。而且，我們已經與豐田簽署了 1 億美元的協議。實際上，我們正​​在與他們商談一項比這更大數量的協議。

The retail strategy is going gangbusters. Two new stores that have our new approach to doing a store head have had 200,000 visitors since opening. It's just been tremendous across the board and with great momentum going into the third quarter so super excited. We tried to express as much of this as possible in the letter ahead of time to give people the maximum amount of time to ask questions, so with that let's go to questions.

零售策略進展順利。兩家採用我們全新店面管理方法的新店自開業以來已接待了20萬名顧客。整體業績表現優異，進入第三季後勢頭強勁，令人興奮不已。我們已盡量提前在信中詳細闡述了這一點，以便大家有充足的時間提問，現在就讓我們開始提問吧。

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. (Operator Instructions) Our first question is from Himanshu Patel of JPMorgan. Your line is open.

謝謝各位，女士們，先生們。 （接線員指示）第一個問題來自摩根大通的Himanshu Patel。您的線路已開通。

A couple questions. I noticed the margins on the development services business had gotten down to 52%. It looks like that's about maybe 20 points or so below where it was in the recent quarter, and then margins on the automotive revenue were actually a few points higher than where they were. Can you just give a little bit of color behind how we should think about those two forecasts going forward?

幾個問題。我注意到開發服務業務的利潤率已經下降到52%。看起來比最近一個季度下降了大約20個百分點，而汽車業務的利潤率實際上比之前高了幾個個百分點。您能否簡單解釋一下我們未來該如何看待這兩個預測？

Sure, Himanshu. The margin on our development services contract will fluctuate from quarter to quarter because there is a difference in the revenue recognition which is associated with the milestones that we deliver on that program versus the cost that we incur. This is very consistent with what we have been seeing in the last several quarters about our development services margin.

當然，Himanshu。我們開發服務合約的利潤率每季都會波動，因為與我們交付的里程碑相關的收入確認與我們產生的成本之間存在差異。這與我們過去幾季看到的開發服務利潤率非常一致。

I think the automotive margin is a much better measure of our operational capabilities. As you correctly pointed out, sequentially our automotive margin has improved from 20% in Q1 to 22% as we have continued to improve the [ASEs] on the Roadster and our ongoing cost reductions that we've achieved.

我認為汽車業務利潤率更能衡量我們的營運能力。正如您所指出的，由於我們持續改善Roadster的ASE（自動販賣機效率），以及持續降低成本，我們的汽車業務利潤率已從第一季的20%環比增長至22%。

Yeah, which -- and it certainly bodes very well for the Model S, our target of at least 25% margin for the Model S.

是的，這對 Model S 來說無疑是個好兆頭，我們的目標是 Model S 的利潤率至少為 25%。

Right.

正確的。

Okay. And then, Elon, I guess a bigger question on Toyota. You alluded to some additional business beyond the $100 million contract with Toyota. I'm curious do you have a view at this stage on how Toyota is internally viewing just the broader EV portfolio or do they have parallel development efforts internally with their own engineers right now for electric vehicles that are I guess in some ways sort of competing with what you guys are doing or do you sense that they're kind of gravitating more towards using someone like a Tesla more exclusively?

好的。然後，埃隆，我想問一個關於豐田的更重要的問題。您提到了除了與豐田簽訂的1億美元合約之外的一些其他業務。我很好奇，您目前對豐田內部如何看待更廣泛的電動車產品組合有什麼看法？或者他們目前在內部與自己的工程師同步進行電動車開發，我猜這些開發在某種程度上與你們正在做的事情有競爭？或者您覺得他們更傾向於專門使用像特斯拉這樣的公司？

It's difficult to answer that question with a high degree of accuracy, but certainly if one looks at the objective actions they've taken such as the recent $100 million deal and the fact that we're in discussions for a deal that is an order of magnitude higher than that. You can never foretell exactly what will happen there, but certainly if I was to judge from (inaudible) behavior, it's extremely positive. So I would expect a company like Toyota, which is obviously a gigantic one, one of the largest companies in the world, to have multiple irons in the fire, but I think it can also be said that there's no doubt that we're one of the significant irons in that fire.

很難高度準確地回答這個問題，但如果看看他們採取的客觀行動，比如最近那筆1億美元的交易，以及我們正在商談一筆比這高出一個數量級的交易，答案是肯定的。你永遠無法準確預測未來會發生什麼，但如果我從（聽不清楚）的行為來判斷，這無疑是非常正面的。所以我預計像豐田這樣的公司，它顯然是一家巨頭，是世界上最大的公司之一，會同時投入多個項目，但我認為也可以說，毫無疑問，我們是其中最重要的一個。

Okay. And then lastly on the revenue guidance, you guys gave a midpoint of $185 million, and it sort of implies about $78 million for the second half, which on a quarterly basis is about $40 million or so per quarter. That's a bit of a slowdown from the kind of I guess $50 million and $60 million rate you did in the first two quarters. So can you shed some color on what drives that sequential decline in revenue?

好的。最後，關於營收預期，你們給出的中位數是1.85億美元，這意味著下半年的營收約為7800萬美元，按季度計算，大約是每季4000萬美元左右。相較於前兩季5000萬到6000萬美元的營收成長速度，略有放緩。您能解釋一下導致營收季減的原因嗎？

We believe in being conservative.

我們相信保守。

Okay, great. Thank you.

好的，太好了。謝謝。

Thank you. Our next question is from Andrea James of Dougherty & Company. Your line is open.

謝謝。下一個問題來自Dougherty & Company的Andrea James。您的電話已接通。

Sure. Did you want to elaborate on that last question a little bit? It sounded like you did. Maybe not.

當然。你想稍微詳細解釋一下最後一個問題嗎？聽起來你好像想。也可能不想。

I'd like to elaborate on it. I'm being cautioned that I shouldn't. Let's say predictions for the remainder of the year are conservative. I'm optimistic that we will exceed them.

我想詳細說明一下。有人告誡我不要這麼做。假設今年剩餘時間的預測是保守的，我樂觀地認為我們會超過這些預測。

Okay. Thank you. I have three questions. First, regarding the retail store concept, are you seeing a correlation between foot traffic and reservations? And I guess to the extent that you can measure it, how much of the acceleration and reservations has to do with the store openings and how much of it has to do with the simple fact that we're getting closer to 2012?

好的，謝謝。我有三個問題。首先，關於零售店的概念，您是否發現客流量和預訂量之間有關聯？我想，就您所能衡量的程度而言，客流量的成長和預訂量有多少與門市開業有關，又有多少與2012年即將到來這個簡單的事實有關？

It's pretty hard to separate those two things, but I can say they're both having a significant effect. And we are seeing proportionately higher reservations from the stores with the greater foot traffic so -- but like I said, it's difficult to separate those two things. Yeah, I think we'll probably have a better sense of that in the coming months, but I can't say we have a firm understanding of what -- how exactly it would break down. It's all going in the right direction.

很難區分這兩件事，但我可以說它們都產生了顯著的影響。我們看到，客流量越大的門市預訂量也相應越高——但就像我說的，很難區分這兩件事。是的，我想我們可能會在接下來的幾個月裡對此有更清晰的認識，但我不能說我們已經完全理解了它究竟會如何發展。一切都在朝著正確的方向發展。

What we are seeing is a pretty interesting dynamic. We opened our Santana store first. We saw increased foot traffic there. Obviously we are better known in California, and that -- we could see that coming through in higher reservations for the Model S and orders for the Roadster. But what was interesting is that our Menlo Park store which is not very far also saw an uptick in Roadster sales and reservations, so there's a pretty dynamic effect. And in Denver where we opened our second store, a lot of people really didn't know what Tesla is, and opening that store has created a huge sense of awareness.

我們看到了一種相當有趣的動態。我們先開了桑塔納專賣店，那裡的客流量有成長。顯然，我們在加州的知名度更高，這體現在Model S和Roadster的預訂量上升。但更有趣的是，距離我們不遠的門洛帕克專賣店Roadster的銷售和預訂量也有所上升，所以這是一個相當活躍的效應。在我們開設第二家店的丹佛，很多人當時根本不知道特斯拉是什麼，而這家店的開幕大大提高了他們的認知度。

Yeah, right.

是的，對。

And initially we didn't see the momentum of reservations increasing, but lately in the last few weeks we've certainly seen a significant increase in reservations and momentum. So it's a combination of awareness and --

起初我們並沒有看到預訂量增長的勢頭，但最近幾週，預訂量和勢頭確實顯著增長。所以，這是認知度和…的結合。

Yeah. Deepak's actually made a good point there. A pretty -- if you look at our Roadster sales, we've got about almost half of those sales occurring outside of the US. And US sales I think were maybe 30%, 40%, maybe 30% in California or something like that. But if you look at our sort of California Roadster sales I think we're maybe somewhere around 15% of the total sales in California. But if you look at our Model S reservations, it's actually closer to 40% or 45% of our Model S reservations are in California which means that there's a great deal of untapped demand for Model S outside of California that I think is at least proportionate to our Roadster sales.

是的。 Deepak 的觀點確實很有道理。如果你看看我們的 Roadster 銷量，你會發現幾乎一半的銷量來自美國以外。美國的銷售量大概有 30%、40%，大概 30% 左右來自加州。但如果你看看加州 Roadster 的銷量，我覺得加州的銷量大概佔總銷量的 15% 左右。但如果你看看 Model S 的預訂量，你會發現加州的 Model S 預訂量實際上接近 40% 或 45%，這意味著加州以外還有大量尚未開發的 Model S 需求，我認為這至少與我們的 Roadster 銷量成正比。

So we certainly are highly optimistic about Model S demand growth in the future, and we really particularly outside of the US have de-emphasized the Model S because the Model S will first be delivered in the US and we want to focus on getting into Roadster sales internationally so there's not too, too big of a gap there between Roadster and Model S.

因此，我們對未來 Model S 的需求成長非常樂觀，我們確實不再強調 Model S，特別是在美國以外的地區，因為 Model S 將首先在美國交付，而我們希望專注於在國際上銷售 Roadster，因此 Roadster 和 Model S 之間的差距不會太大。

But as we turn our focus to Model S internationally, I really think we'll see very strong demand. It's maybe worth just touching a bit more on Roadster, as well, because I've seen in the press some misinterpretation of the situation with Roadster with some people in the press thinking that we've sort of stopped production or something. The comments actually made a couple months ago was that we'd be -- we'd soon have sold out of Roadsters, meaning the orders for Roadsters, there would be no more order slots left.

但隨著我們將焦點轉向國際市場Model S，我確信我們會看到非常強勁的需求。或許也值得多談談Roadster，因為我看到媒體對Roadster的狀況有些誤解，有些人認為我們已經停產了。實際上，幾個月前就有評論說，我們的Roadster很快就會售罄，也就是說，Roadster的訂單將不復存在。

Our delivery takes place some time after we do a sale because we have a long waiting list. So we're actually delivering Roadsters in the US until January, but we've sold out of all custom orders. As I predicted, we've sold out of all custom orders for the Roadsters. There are some spec cars available, a small number of spec cars available, but otherwise we're sold out. So you can't actually buy a custom ordered Roadster in the US anymore, and there are only a few -- like I said, a few spec models available. So if somebody is interested in buying a Roadster they'd best act quickly.

由於等待名單很長，我們的發貨時間是在銷售結束後的一段時間。實際上，我們在美國會一直發貨到明年1月，但所有定製版Roadster的訂單已經售罄。正如我所料，所有定製版Roadster的訂單都已售罄。目前還有一些定製版車型，少量定製版車型，但其他車型都已售罄。所以，現在在美國已經買不到定製版Roadster了，而且只有少數——就像我說的，只有少數定製版車型。所以，如果有人想買Roadster，最好盡快行動。

Now, we do have some inventory reserved for Asia and Europe and will continue deliveries in Asia and Europe until at least the third quarter of next year because Model S, (inaudible) towards the end of next year, so we're clarifying that because the media got that wrong.

現在，我們確實為亞洲和歐洲保留了一些庫存，並將繼續在亞洲和歐洲交付，至少到明年第三季度，因為 Model S，（聽不清楚）將在明年年底交付，所以我們要澄清這一點，因為媒體的報導是錯誤的。

Okay. Thank you. Just two more. You shared a table in the shareholder newsletter that had Model S development, I guess a timeline. There's a lot of information packed into this table, but I was wondering if you kind of help me to understand how we should look at it. What are you trying to convey with the information, and just explain some concepts like what does it mean that the Beta is in the process? The Beta process and prototype/production phase in Q3/Q4 '11. Just kind of trying to understand what -- you know, how we should look at that table.

好的，謝謝。還有兩個問題。您在股東通訊中分享了一張表格，上面有Model S的開發進度，我想應該是個時間表。這張表格包含了很多訊息，但我想知道您能否幫助我理解我們應該如何看待它。您想透過這些訊息傳達什麼？能否解釋一下一些概念，例如Beta測試階段是什麼意思？ Beta測試階段和原型/量產階段分別在2011年第三季/第四季。我想了解一下，您知道我們應該如何看待這張表格。

Sure. So essentially what we're saying is that we're done with the Alpha phase of the vehicle in all respects and we're now well into the Beta phase. I should mention that we're planning on having a major customer event on October 1st at our Fremont factory that will allow customers to test-drive the Beta vehicles and also have a tour of our factory. We're sending out invitations pretty soon, but that's going to be a huge customer event and people will have an opportunity to drive a car that is very, very close to a production design, so it's 99% production design. And so that will mark the first Beta vehicles that can be driven.

當然。所以本質上，我們所說的是，我們已經全面完成了車輛的Alpha階段，現在正進入Beta階段。我應該提一下，我們計劃於10月1日在弗里蒙特工廠舉辦一場大型客戶活動，屆時客戶將有機會試駕Beta車輛，並參觀我們的工廠。我們很快就會發出邀請函，但那將是一場盛大的客戶活動，人們將有機會駕駛一輛非常非常接近量產設計的汽車，也就是說，它的量產設計已經達到了99%。這將標誌著第一批可以駕駛的Beta車輛。

And our definition of Beta is basically which is production design but there are still a series of small issues to be worked out just as you would imagine like Beta software or something like that. And then a relief candidate is something where we think the car is ready to go to customers but we're just checking that it is. We're just validating that sort of final production process.

我們對 Beta 版的定義基本上是，它包含生產設計，但仍有一系列小問題需要解決，就像你想像的 Beta 軟體之類的東西一樣。然後，Release 候選版本指的是我們認為汽車已經準備好交付給客戶，但我們只是在檢查它是否已經準備好。我們只是在驗證這個最終的生產流程。

So obviously we're very confident about the progress of the Model S in terms of what the Beta vehicle is going to be like to drive. We're also very confident about the progress in the factory, and this is why it's -- we're going to have this open house effectively on October 1st for all of our customers. We're going to bring people in from all around the world and it's going to be an awesome event, so it's going to be a lot of fun if anybody wants to come.

所以，就Beta版Model S的駕駛體驗而言，我們顯然對它的進展非常有信心。我們對工廠的進展也非常有信心，這就是為什麼－我們將在10月1日為所有客戶舉辦這次開放日。我們將邀請來自世界各地的人們前來，這將是一場精彩的活動，所以如果有人想來的話，一定會非常有趣。

Okay. And then finally this is regarding -- or was there something else?

好的。最後，這是關於——或者還有其他事情嗎？

No, go ahead.

不，繼續吧。

Regarding the recently signed RAV4 contract, I guess what does Tesla need to do to meet Toyota's specifications and should we model out some investment there, and do you invest in permanent structures in the factory?

關於最近簽署的 RAV4 合同，我猜特斯拉需要做什麼才能滿足豐田的規格，我們是否應該在那裡進行一些投資，您是否在工廠投資永久性建築？

Sorry, what was the first part of your question again?

抱歉，您問題的第一部分是什麼？

Regarding the RAV4 contract, what sort of investments do you need to make to meet their specifications and do you -- I mean, does it become a permanent part of the factory or what happens there?

關於 RAV4 合同，您需要進行什麼樣的投資才能滿足他們的規格要求，我的意思是，它會成為工廠的永久組成部分嗎？還是會在那裡發生什麼事？

There is a lot of synergy in the powertrain that we will provide to Toyota and the Model S, so this is a great way for us to really make the most efficient use of our capital resources by developing a common factory and common processes. Of course, there are certain tools that will be very unique for the shape and the size of the battery pack as an example that we'll have in the RAV4, but it's not as if we are establishing a separate factory. It's going to be common processes overall.

我們為豐田和Model S提供的動力系統具有很強的協同效應，因此，透過開發通用工廠和通用流程，這對我們來說是一個真正高效利用資本資源的好方法。當然，某些工具會因電池組的形狀和尺寸而非常獨特，例如我們將在RAV4上使用的電池組，但這並不意味著我們要建立一個單獨的工廠。總體而言，我們將採用通用的流程。

Yeah, relatively small expenses that haven't already been recognized essentially, and it also gives us a great transition for the Roadster production workforce to work on the RAV4 vehicles as an interim measure before the full Model S production starts.

是的，本質上來說，這些費用相對較小，而且在全面開始生產 Model S 之前，作為一項臨時措施，它也為 Roadster 生產團隊在 RAV4 車輛上的生產提供了一個很好的過渡。

Thank you so much.

太感謝了。

Thanks.

謝謝。

Thank you. Our next question is from Patrick Archambault of Goldman Sachs. Your line is open.

謝謝。下一個問題來自高盛的 Patrick Archambault。您的線路暢通。

Thank you very much. Actually just wanted to build on that last question. It does seem from the press release that the testing on the Alpha really kind of came fairly close to a lot of the simulation work you did, and based on the fact that you're on track for all your major timetables here, can you just maybe just dive in a little bit and tell us were there some areas that were different where you had to adopt a little bit some challenges that are still being kind of ironed out in the Beta phase? Just wanted to get a little bit more color on how that transition is going.

非常感謝。實際上，我只是想就最後一個問題進一步探討。從新聞稿來看，Alpha 版的測試確實與你們所做的許多模擬工作非常接近，而且考慮到你們所有主要時間表都進展順利，能否稍微深入地談談，是否存在一些與 Beta 階段有所不同的地方，需要你們適應一些挑戰，而這些挑戰目前仍在解決中？我只是想進一步了解過渡的進展。

Sure. Well, in the Alpha phase of any project you discover quite a lot. That's why you have an Alpha phase. It's nothing that's really hindered us from moving to the Beta phase as planned. So there were a lot of problems and we solved a lot of problems, and one of the toughest challenges is achieving a five-star crash rating across the board by 2012 standards. Now, to be clear, there is no car currently in existence that has five-star in every category by 2012 standards. This is -- these standards have risen quite a bit.

當然。嗯，任何專案的Alpha階段都會發現很多東西。這就是為什麼會有Alpha階段。但這並沒有真正阻礙我們按計劃進入Beta階段。所以有很多問題，我們也解決了很多，其中最艱鉅的挑戰之一是按照2012年的標準全面獲得五星碰撞評級。現在需要明確的是，目前還沒有哪款車能夠按照2012年的標準在所有類別中都獲得五星評級。這——這些標準已經提高了不少。

But that's our target, and we got very close in the Alpha. And I think we're going to get there in either the early Beta phase or at minimum by the sort of mid to late Beta phase. So that's -- and the challenge there is you want to make a car that's extraordinarily safe. I mean, our goal is to make this the safest car in the world bar none. Not the safest electric car, the safest car, and I think we'll get there.

但這是我們的目標，我們在Alpha階段已經非常接近了。我認為我們會在Beta早期階段，或至少在Beta中後期階段達到這個目標。所以，挑戰在於，我們要製造一輛極為安全的汽車。我的意思是，我們的目標是讓它成為世界上最安全的汽車，無與倫比。不是最安全的電動車，而是最安全的汽車，我相信我們一定能做到。

And then the challenge is to get there without adding a ton of weight, and the only way you can do that is by having a very sophisticated aluminum body and a chassis which is what we've got and using the most advanced techniques from the automotive business. Also applying a few ideas from the rocket business. Aerodynamics was extremely important, and I think we've really got something that's spectacular.

接下來的挑戰是如何在不增加太多重量的情況下實現這一目標，而唯一的方法就是採用非常精密的鋁製車身和底盤，這就是我們目前擁有的，並且運用汽車行業最先進的技術。此外，我們也藉鑒了一些火箭業的理念。空氣動力學非常重要，我認為我們已經取得了一些非凡的成果。

And we'll go into detail on that on the -- on October 1st when we have the customer event. I'm actually planning on doing quite a detailed presentation on crash safety just to educate people exactly what goes into crash safety, how do you simulate it, how do you solve the problem, what makes something good or bad, because I want to actually really have people come away from that really understanding and knowing what makes a car safe rather than just sort of typical marketing nonsense.

我們將在10月1日的客戶活動上詳細討論這個問題。我實際上計劃做一個關於碰撞安全的非常詳細的演示，只是為了讓人們確切地了解碰撞安全的概念，如何模擬碰撞安全，如何解決問題，以及什麼決定了它好壞。因為我希望人們能夠真正理解和知道是什麼讓汽車變得安全，而不僅僅是那些典型的行銷廢話。

Gotcha. And I take it like the biggest piece there is the side impact requirement, right?

明白了。我認為最重要的一點是側面碰撞要求，對嗎？

Well, there's the side -- there's multiple types of side impact, there's multiple types of front impact, and then there's also rear impact and roof crash.

嗯，有側面碰撞——有多種類型的側面碰撞，有多種類型的正面碰撞，還有後部碰撞和車頂碰撞。

And are those all new? I thought it was the side impact that was new, but I might be simplifying things.

這些都是新的嗎？我以為側面碰撞是新的，但我可能把事情簡化了。

Oh, in terms of what's new by 2012 standards?

哦，以 2012 年的標準來說，有什麼新東西嗎？

Yes.

是的。

By 2012 standards, the roof crash requirements has increased dramatically and side impact, so it's -- those are the two biggest changes.

根據 2012 年的標準，車頂碰撞要求和側面碰撞要求大幅提高，所以這是兩個最大的變化。

Gotcha. Okay. And actually just on that note, one of the things that's very differentiated is your choice of an aluminum body. I see you had some discussion of the Schuler press that you guys have installed there. Clearly I think you guys would be the only aluminum-based body in the US if I'm correct. How is that process going? What are some of the challenges with that?

明白了。好的。實際上，說到這一點，你們的差異化優勢之一就是選擇了鋁製車身。我看到你們討論過你們在那裡安裝的舒勒壓機。如果我沒記錯的話，你們顯然是美國唯一一家採用鋁製車身的公司。這個過程進展如何？面臨哪些挑戰？

You're correct. We would be the only aluminum car in the country, made in the United States. Of course, there are many other aluminum structures made in the United States including planes and rockets, and you're familiar with the rocket side of things. We've really brought in expertise from all around the world on shaping of aluminum, and I think we're going to -- I feel reasonably confident in saying that this is going to be the most advanced body and chassis in the world and I'd stack it up against anything.

你說得對。我們的車將是全美唯一一款在美國製造的鋁製車。當然，美國也製造了許多其他鋁製結構，包括飛機和火箭，你對火箭方面應該很熟悉。我們確實引進了世界各地鋁製成型方面的專業知識，我認為我們將——我有信心說，這將是世界上最先進的車身和底盤，我可以與任何產品相媲美。

And as far as the -- I mean, it is more challenging to shape and bond aluminum than steel, but we've really gone through most of those issues in the Alpha phase. And then with the Beta vehicles we're getting to very tight tolerances. I think it's very important to build a car to very precise measurements, to have good gas and tight build clearances, and we're really building it to a very exacting standard. The challenge I have for the manufacturing team is like I want to use this car as a yardstick. I mean, that's how accurate it needs to be, but I don't see any issues in achieving that goal.

至於——我的意思是，鋁的成型和黏合比鋼更具挑戰性，但我們在Alpha階段已經解決了大部分問題。之後，在Beta階段，我們的公差要求非常嚴格。我認為，以非常精確的尺寸製造汽車非常重要，要有良好的油耗和緊密的製造間隙，我們確實在按照非常嚴格的標準製造汽車。我給製造團隊的挑戰是，我想用這輛車作為衡量標準。我的意思是，它需要達到這樣的精度，但我認為實現這個目標沒有任何問題。

Great. And one last quick one if I may, maybe more for Deepak. The CapEx, increased CapEx guidance, is that more of a timing issue? Is that kind of pulling forward money you were expecting to spend anyways or is that just kind of an increase in the overall amount of investment required to execute?

好的。最後想問個簡短的問題，或許可以多問一下Deepak。資本支出，也就是增加的資本支出指引，這更多的是時間問題嗎？這是否意味著你本來就預計要支出的資金會提前到位，還是只是增加了執行所需的總投資額？

It's a mixture of several items. Timing is an aspect of it, but it's also making some additional strategic investments on the Model S to improve cost and quality in some of our shops. It also includes some investments for Model X since we are beginning to kick that off, and some additional strategic work that we are doing.

這是幾項工作的綜合。時機是一方面，但也包括對 Model S 進行一些額外的策略性投資，以改善我們部分工廠的成本和品質。此外，還包括對 Model X 的一些投資，因為我們正開始啟動這項計劃，以及我們正在進行的一些額外的策略工作。

Yeah, and I think your impression is (inaudible), but the plan is to have an unveiling of the Model X prototype at the end of this year, so probably in the mid December timeframe we'll get a real good sense for that and it's going to be a super exciting vehicle.

是的，我認為你的印像是（聽不清楚），但計劃是在今年年底推出 Model X 原型，所以很可能在 12 月中旬我們會對此有一個很好的了解，它將是一款超級令人興奮的汽車。

I should mention that thus far we've been very open about the projects that we've been working on such as the Model S, Model X, the Roadster, and the powertrain deals and so on. We're going to transition to something where not every project is talked about, so there are going to be some projects that for proprietary reasons we want to keep silent about until the timing is right to unveil them. And so there are a couple of those going on that I think are going to be very exciting when people learn about them, but we don't want to talk about them publicly.

值得一提的是，到目前為止，我們對正在進行的專案非常開放，例如 Model S、Model X、Roadster 以及動力系統交易等等。我們將過渡到並非每個專案都公開討論的階段，因此，出於專有權的原因，有些專案我們希望保持沉默，直到時機成熟才能公佈。目前正在進行的一些項目，我認為一旦人們了解，將會非常令人興奮，但我們不想公開談論它們。

Great. Thank you very much.

太好了。非常感謝。

Thank you, Pat.

謝謝你，帕特。

Thank you. Our next question is from Dan Galves of Deutsch Bank. Your line is open.

謝謝。下一個問題來自德意志銀行的Dan Galves。您的電話已接通。

So I wanted to ask a little bit about the Model X. Thanks for the detail on startup production of that vehicle and volumes. Could you give us a sense of in terms of the overall product development process for that vehicle versus the Model S, how long would you say -- or I guess considering that you're leveraging the Model S platform, is the product development process much quicker on the X than the S has been?

我想問一下關於Model X的問題。感謝您詳細介紹了這款車的初始生產和產量。您能否介紹一下這款車與Model S相比的整體產品開發流程，您覺得它開發了多久？或者，考慮到您使用的是Model S平台，Model X的產品開發流程是否比Model S快得多？

Yeah, definitely. It's much lower CapEx and a much quicker development process because we're really keeping the fundamental powertrain and the chassis, the electronic components, the 17-inch touch screen instrument panel, these things are all common between the cars and it's kind of just the -- sort of the upper body that changes. I don't want to say too much about the Model X because I want to really leave a little bit for the big unveil in December. So there are some pretty exciting things about the Model X that I think are going to be super cool, but I don't want to say too much at this point.

是的，絕對是如此。它的資本支出要低得多，開發流程也要快得多，因為我們實際上保留了基本的動力系統和底盤、電子元件、17英寸觸控螢幕儀表板，這些東西在兩款車型中都是通用的，只是上半身有所變化。關於Model X，我不想透露太多，因為我想把一些細節留到12月的盛大發表會上。所以，我認為Model X有一些非常令人興奮的地方，會非常酷，但我現在還不想透露太多。

Okay. But would you say these additional top hats are -- is it half the time to develop them from kind of, I don't know what you guys call it, maybe design frieze to start of production or is it even faster than that?

好的。但您覺得這些額外的禮帽——從設計到生產，開發時間是否只佔一半？我不知道你們怎麼稱呼它，也許是從設計到開始生產，或是比這更快？

First approximation it's probably about half, yeah. It's maybe a third of the CapEx and half the time.

初步估計大概是一半，是的。大概是資本支出的三分之一，時間也佔了一半。

A third of the CapEx, half the time. Okay. Thanks for that. And then in talking about R&D and CapEx, just wondering if you expect to have a decline in R&D spending as you get up to the Model S launch or will that stay relatively flat versus 2011 levels considering that you seem to be in the midst of other development processes as well? So kind of the cadence of R&D and CapEx, should that decline in 2012 versus 2011?

資本支出的三分之一，也就是一半的時間。好的，謝謝。然後說到研發和資本支出，我想知道您是否預計在Model S上市前，研發支出會下降？還是會與2011年的水準保持相對平穩，因為您似乎也處於其他開發流程之中？那麼，研發和資本支出的節奏，與2011年相比，2012年應該會下降嗎？

The bigger thing is by quarter, as well, and I think certainly at this point we have fairly significant one-time expenses related to the Model S as we are completing the engineering design and testing work with our suppliers, and we're building the prototypes of the Beta as we speak. And in addition we have almost 150 people in our manufacturing facility which are continuing to show up in R&D expenses, and they will move up into cost of goods sold once we go into the production phase of Model S. So there will be some substantial reductions there on Model S related R&D in our manufacturing facility.

更重要的一點是按季度計算。我認為目前我們與Model S相關的一次性支出確實相當可觀，因為我們正在與供應商完成工程設計和測試工作，而且我們正在製造Beta版的原型車。此外，我們製造工廠有近150名員工，這些員工的支出將持續體現在研發費用中，一旦進入Model S的生產階段，這些費用將計入銷售成本。因此，我們製造工廠在Model S相關研發的支出將大幅減少。

The things that would come up is as we go into 2012 is Model X and some of the other projects that we are working on. But overall, yeah, there will be some reductions.

進入2012年，Model X和我們正在進行的其他一些項目可能會有所調整。但總體而言，產量會減少。

Okay, great. And just I wanted to ask about the cadence of Model S production a bit. I know you've announced that early production will be kind of the highest end models. Do you have any sense for how long that might last? It could definitely impact average transaction prices over time. Just of the 5,000 vehicles you expect to produce in 2012, will those all be the highest end models?

好的，太好了。我只是想問Model S的生產節奏。我知道你們宣布過，早期生產的車型將是最高端的。您覺得這種情況會持續多久？這肯定會影響平均交易價格。你們預計2012年生產的5,000輛汽車中，全部都是最高端的嗎？

Well, we plan to start with as we have announced the 300-mile-range Model S, and it will be the signature series initially which will be fully optioned, so certainly they'll have higher ASEs but I'm not -- I guess you had a couple of different pieces in your question. Perhaps you can ask, Dan, what was your first part again on that?

嗯，我們計劃從宣布續航里程為300英里的Model S開始，它最初將是簽名系列，將提供全套選配，所以它們肯定會有更高的ASE，但我不是——我想你的問題包含了幾個不同的部分。丹，或許你可以問一下，你首先提到了什麼？

I guess maybe how long you expect that to last. Just trying to get a sense of whether it would be the first couple quarters of production that will be the 300-mile vehicle or is that more like the first 500 to 1,000?

我想問一下您預計這種情況會持續多久。我只是想了解一下，在投產後的前幾個季度，是會生產出續航里程為300英里的車輛，還是更可能是500到1000英里的車輛？

Well, we've indicated that before year-end we would have the 230-mile in 2012. We will have the 230-mile range car out.

嗯，我們已經表示，在 2012 年底之前，我們將推出續航里程為 230 英里的汽車。我們將推出續航里程為 230 英里的汽車。

Well, the signature series which is the first 1,000 will be the 300-mile-range only because it's kind of like the fully loaded vehicle. And then thereafter if you want the option of the 300 or the 230-mile, and then at the very end of next year, sort of probably in December is when the one will start. Next year some of the 160-mile (inaudible) predict in advance how many people are going to pick 300 versus 230, but it's -- it could be half and half. It could be one-third/two-thirds. The (inaudible) in advance, but we don't have an indication of that yet because we've not insisted that people pick one or the other yet.

嗯，首批1000輛簽名版車型將只提供300英里續航里程，因為它有點像滿載車輛。之後，您可以選擇300英里或230英里續航里程，到明年年底，大約12月就會開始銷售。明年，一些160英里續航里程的車型（聽不清楚）會提前預測有多少人會選擇300英里或230英里續航里程的車型，但可能是各佔一半，也可能是三分之一或三分之二。 （聽不清楚）是提前預測的，但我們目前還沒有這方面的跡象，因為我們還沒有堅持要求人們選擇其中之一。

Right.

正確的。

Okay. That's very helpful. Maybe just one more just looking at you're probably getting a pretty good sense of how your suppliers are performing as the Beta phase comes to a start. Are you having any issues with suppliers or are you more worried about your suppliers or your own capability in terms of making sure to be on time with the Model S?

好的。這很有幫助。再問一個問題，隨著Beta測試階段的開始，您可能對供應商的表現有了相當好的了解。您在供應商方面遇到什麼問題了嗎？或者您更擔心供應商或您自己能否確保Model S按時交付？

Well, I mean so far it looks like everything is on track, so we're not aware of any supplier or internal issue that would prevent deliveries in the middle of next year. And we're certainly staying on top of that, making sure that we have a strong supply, a quality engineering team that's out there verifying the facts on the ground with suppliers, not just sort of taking their word for it. And then we're making sure that internally our manufacturing ability is ready, and ready before it needs to be ready, and so far it's looking good. Don't know of anything that's going to cause an issue.

嗯，我的意思是，到目前為止，一切看起來都進展順利，所以我們沒有發現任何供應商或內部問題會阻礙明年年中交貨。我們當然會密切關注，確保我們擁有強大的供應，並擁有一支品質工程團隊，他們會與供應商進行實地核實，而不是僅僅聽信他們的說辭。此外，我們還要確保內部製造能力準備就緒，並在需要之前做好準備。到目前為止，一切看起來都很好。不知道有什麼事情會引發問題。

That sounds great. Thanks a lot.

聽起來很棒。非常感謝。

Thanks, Dan.

謝謝，丹。

Thank you. Our next question is from Carter Driscoll of Capstone Investments. Your line is open.

謝謝。下一個問題來自 Capstone Investments 的 Carter Driscoll。您的電話已接通。

My question really stems around obviously the Model S. You've had good growth in the reservations ramping nicely, and obviously given your stated intentions for your second half production models in 2012, you're fully booked for that production level. Help me understand what the limiting factors are. Let's say you had a continued ramp between now and your on-target production in the second of 2012, and let's say you reached, I don't know, say 15,000 reservations. Why wouldn't you produce those 15,000 in the second half of the year? Maybe you could help me and discuss maybe some of those limiting factors, early production run, trying to figure the bugs, things of that nature.

我的問題顯然與Model S有關。你們的預訂量成長良好，而且顯然，考慮到你們計劃在2012年下半年推出量產車型，你們的產量已經全部預訂滿。請幫我分析一下限制因素是什麼。假設從現在到2012年下半年，你們的預訂量持續成長，並且達到了，我不確定，比如說15,000輛。為什麼你們不在下半年生產這15,000輛呢？或許您可以幫我分析一下這些限制因素，例如早期生產運作、試圖找出問題所在等等。

Well, the nature of a manufacturing line is it's sort of like spinning up a wheel. You've got to -- you can't just sort of go from nothing to 2,000 vehicles a month instantly because if you did that there would be a lot of issues you encounter. You really have to kind of start the line with ten vehicles a week and then go to 20 and then 30 and 40 and eventually get up to the rate that -- where the production line can manufacture the vehicle with very high quality at the rate that you need it. And if you just sort of went full blast, you wouldn't be able to keep the quality where it needs to be.

嗯，生產線的本質就像旋轉的輪子。你不可能一下子就從零開始每月生產2000輛汽車，因為那樣會遇到很多問題。你必須從每週生產10輛汽車開始，然後提高到20輛、30輛、40輛，最終達到生產線能夠以你所需的速度高品質地生產汽車的速度。如果你開足馬力，就無法保證品質。

Now, we have set things up such that -- and this is where part of the increased CapEx comes from -- such that we can do 20,000 units on a single shift. Previously we had talked about doing 20,000 units on a double shift, and we thought to allow for a better ability to capture outside potential, let's spend a bit more money and be able to do that on a single shift. So yeah, I mean sort of in the 2013 timeframe, if the demand is there, we can certainly do more than 20,000 vehicles and like I said we'll work hard to drive that demand to the best possible level.

現在，我們已經做好了安排，這樣一來——資本支出增加的部分原因就在於此——我們就能在一個班次內生產2萬輛汽車。之前我們曾討論過雙班生產2萬輛汽車，我們認為，為了更好地挖掘外部潛力，我們可以多花點錢，在一個班次內就能達到這個產量。所以，是的，我的意思是，在2013年左右，如果有需求，我們肯定能生產超過2萬輛汽車，就像我說的，我們會努力將需求推向最佳水平。

And then just my next question really circles around obviously some of the strategic initiatives that you want to keep under wraps for now. Obviously you had the secondary raise, and I would imagine most of that's for the Model X, the RAV4 and the Model S. Do you envision that you might need for some of these initiatives additional capital or do you feel comfortable with what you have on the books?

我的下一個問題顯然圍繞著一些您目前想要保密的策略計劃。顯然，您進行了二次融資，我想其中大部分資金都用於Model X、RAV4和Model S。您是否預計這些計劃可能需要額外的資金，或者您對現有的資金狀況感到滿意？

At this point we're not -- we don't plan any -- don't anticipate any need for a secondary between now and the start of Model S production, and so we'll have to see how things develop. I mean, if there is -- if we see a significant opportunity and it seems as though it's worth the dilution to pursue that opportunity then we would go to market, but we don't currently see the need to do that.

目前，我們還沒有——我們沒有任何計劃——預計從現在到Model S投產期間不需要二次開發，所以我們只能看看事態如何發展。我的意思是，如果我們看到一個重大的機會，而且看起來值得稀釋股權去爭取這個機會，那麼我們就會進入市場，但我們目前認為沒有必要這麼做。

It's way too early to tell until we have fully evaluated the projects and looked at the full-scale implementation and make sure these projects make financial sense, and we won't obviously commit and go to that extent of raising external funding.

在我們對這些項目進行全面評估、全面實施並確保這些項目具有財務意義之前，現在下結論還為時過早，而且我們顯然不會承諾並籌集那麼多外部資金。

Does that answer your question?

這回答了你的問題嗎？

Yes. No, thank you very much.

是的。不用了，非常感謝。

Thank you. Our next question is from Erik Olbeter of Pacific Crest. Your line is open.

謝謝。下一個問題來自 Pacific Crest 的 Erik Olbeter。您的電話已接通。

Hi, this is Eric Leeper in for Erik Olbeter today. My question was on SG&A. Obviously good cost control over the last several quarters. I was wondering if you could fill us in on your expectations for that going forward and kind of how it relates to opening new stores and bringing on new staff as you ramp up production here.

大家好，我是Eric Leeper，今天接替Erik Olbeter。我的問題是關於銷售、行政及行政管理（SG&A）的。過去幾季的成本控制顯然很好。請問您能否談談您對未來成本控制的預期，以及這與在提高產量的同時開設新店和招募新員工有何關係。

Sure. Yeah, you're absolutely right, Eric, that as we do add more stores in significant numbers next year and in 2013, we will see a corresponding increase in SG&A. It was good to see that despite adding two stores this quarter our SG&A was relatively flat. In all though I am pretty sure given our overall approach, and not spending any money on advertising as an example, we would see that our SG&A as a percentage of revenue would be at industry -- better than industry benchmarks or at industry benchmarks.

當然。艾瑞克，你說得完全正確，隨著我們明年和2013年大幅增加門市，我們的銷售、一般及行政費用（SG&A）也會隨之增加。很高興看到，儘管本季新增了兩家店，但我們的銷售、一般及行政費用（SG&A）相對持平。不過，總的來說，考慮到我們的整體策略，例如不花任何廣告費，我確信我們的銷售、一般及行政費用佔收入的百分比將達到行業平均水平——甚至高於行業基準。

Okay. That's helpful. And I was wondering if you could just talk about the -- sorry?

好的。這很有幫助。我想知道您能否談談—抱歉？

Oh, go ahead.

噢，繼續吧。

I was wondering if you could just talk about the competitive environment. You've had specifically the Fisker being delivered very recently. I was wondering if you could talk about sort of how you view the market now that you have a luxury non-gasoline vehicle in the market.

我想知道您能否談談競爭環境。您最近剛交付了菲斯克。現在市場上已經有了一款非汽油豪華汽車，您能否談談您如何看待這個市場？

We've not seen any impact on our sales at all of the Fisker, so I mean quite frankly I'm a little concerned about -- that people, if something were to go wrong with Fisker either on their demand or production side, that people would infer that there is a similar issue with Tesla. I just don't think there's a good correlation.

菲斯克的銷售完全沒有受到影響，所以坦白說，我有點擔心——如果菲斯克的需求或生產方面出了問題，人們會推斷特斯拉也存在類似的問題。我只是覺得這兩者之間沒有很好的關聯性。

Great. Thank you.

太好了，謝謝。

Thank you. Our next question is from Ravi Shanker of Morgan Stanley. Your line is open.

謝謝。下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的Ravi Shanker。您的電話已接通。

I'm very interested in this customer event that you're having for the Model S on October 1st. I think this is the first time you've spoken of that. Can you give us some more detail here? Are these customers going to be existing Roadster customers, anyone who's placed an order for the Model S, and are they actually going to get to drive the car?

我對你們10月1日為Model S舉辦的客戶活動非常感興趣。我想這是你第一次提到這件事。能再詳細說說嗎？這些客戶是Roadster的現有用戶嗎？還是任何訂購過Model S的人？他們真的能試駕嗎？

Yes. So this is actually -- you have to have placed a reservation for the Model S. And it's -- we're trying to think of what are the things that we can do to reward customer loyalty and have them feel really confident about the vehicle that they put down a deposit for. And I'm a big believer that the best sales people for a product are existing customers, and so we really want to have people come to this event, drive -- we won't have enough time for everybody, for them to drive the cars themselves, but we're going to drive them in the cars on the test track at -- that we have at Fremont, the (inaudible) facility.

是的。所以這實際上是——你必須預訂Model S。我們正在思考如何獎勵忠誠的客戶，讓他們對自己支付了訂金的車輛充滿信心。我堅信，產品的最佳銷售人員是現有客戶，所以我們非常希望大家來參加這次活動，試駕——我們沒有足夠的時間讓每個人都親自試駕，但我們會在弗里蒙特（聽不清楚）工廠的測試跑道上試駕這些汽車。

So that's -- so they'll get a real feeling for the acceleration and handling, the fit and finish, just the -- I think people are really going to be impressed by that, and that's why we're doing it. And then as well as a detailed factory tour to see all the progress we've made towards production there. And of course as someone who's an analyst, I mean you're welcome to come at any point and see what progress has been made, but -- and you're also welcome to come to this event.

這樣，他們就能真正感受到這款車的加速、操控、組裝和做工——我想人們一定會對此印象深刻，這就是我們這麼做的原因。此外，我們還會進行詳細的工廠參觀，以了解我們在生產方面取得的所有進展。當然，身為分析師，我歡迎您隨時前來參觀，了解我們所取得的進展，也歡迎您參加這次活動。

Yeah, I wouldn't mind scoring one of those ride and drives myself. And related to that, when do you think the automotive media gets to ride or drive in the car then?

是的，我倒是不介意親自體驗一下。話說回來，您覺得汽車媒體什麼時候才能有機會試駕這輛車呢？

I think we'll have some of the automotive media do that on October 1st. Now, it's not a full production so we're to be a little cautious that people aren't officially evaluating -- people will need to be evaluating a Beta product as a Beta product, but we expect to have some fairly significant automotive press activity at the event.

我想我們會在10月1日邀請一些汽車媒體來做這件事。現在，這還不是正式量產，所以我們要謹慎行事，以免人們進行正式評估——人們需要將Beta產品作為Beta產品來評估，但我們預計在此次活動中會有一些相當重要的汽車媒體活動。

And since you said fit and finish, I'm assuming that these would be -- these prototypes would be much, much farther along than the current Alphas and even the Betas that we're seeing currently going -- undergoing testing.

既然您說了適合和完成，我假設這些原型會比目前的 Alpha 甚至 Beta 更進一步，我們正在進行測試。

Yes.

是的。

Just to clarify what we are testing right now are the Alphas that were fully built as our schedule said by Q2, and these will be the first of the Beta builds that we will do.

需要澄清的是，我們現在測試的是按照計劃在第二季完全建立的 Alpha 版本，這些將是我們進行的第一個 Beta 版本。

Yeah. The Alphas you're testing sort of fundamental functionality as opposed to tolerances of the interior, leather and metal trim and that kind of thing.

是的。你測試的是Alpha的基本功能，而不是內裝、皮革、金屬裝飾之類的公差。

And just a final point on this. It seems like there's been a bit of a step up in the profile of the Model S lately. I've seen them on the front page of a couple of automotive websites and magazines, just the video that you guys have been putting out. Also I believe a couple of people have sighted Model S prototypes at some malls around the country and now you're having this event. It seems like a pretty significant step up when you're probably, what, nine months at least out from the launch of the vehicle. Is this something you had planned all along or is this potentially telegraphing that you have room to bring the launch schedule up a little bit?

最後再說一點。最近，Model S 的曝光似乎有所提升。我看到它出現在一些汽車網站和雜誌的首頁上，就連你們發布的影片也讓我印象深刻。另外，我相信已經有人在全國各地的商場裡看到了 Model S 的原型車，現在你們又在舉辦這場發表會。距離這款車的發布可能還有至少九個月的時間，這似乎是一個相當重大的提升。這是你們一直以來的計劃嗎？還是說，這可能表明你們還有空間將發佈時間提前一些？

We're keeping our prediction for release in the middle of next year, and that's -- we feel confident of being able to meet that goal. But as far as the Model S attention, I mean certainly within the US since we have basically sold out of custom-ordered Roadsters and only have a few Roadsters in the showrooms to sell, it makes sense for us to shift our focus domestically to the Model S, and that's what we've been doing and that's going to increase with each passing month. But this is for the US, and then internationally we'll start shifting that focus more in the middle of next year.

我們維持明年年中發布的預測，我們有信心實現這一目標。至於Model S的關注度，我指的是在美國市場，由於我們定制的Roadster車型基本上售罄，展廳裡只有幾輛Roadster車型可供銷售，因此將國內市場的重心轉移到Model S上是合理的，我們一直在這樣做，而且銷量還會逐月增長。但這主要針對美國市場，之後我們將在明年年中開始將重心進一步轉向國際市場。

Great. Thanks very much.

太好了！非常感謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you. Our next question is from [John Laconna] of [Lou Phoenix]. Your line is open.

謝謝。下一個問題來自[Lou Phoenix]的[John Laconna]。您的線路已開通。

Hi. This question is for Elon. Elon, first, thank you for being a visionary at this time in our nation's history. I think the country could certainly use more people like you trying to challenge limits so thanks for that. I just was curious, a couple quick questions. What do you think is one of the most important lessons you took from selling the Roadster that makes you confident that you can actually meet or possibly exceed 20,000 sales for the S next year?

你好。這個問題是問伊隆的。伊隆，首先，感謝您在我們國家歷史上的這個時刻展現出如此遠見卓識。我認為這個國家確實需要更多像您一樣勇於挑戰極限的人，所以謝謝你。我只是好奇，想問幾個簡單的問題。您認為從Roadster的銷售中學到的最重要的經驗是什麼？是什麼讓您有信心明年Roadster S的銷量能夠達到甚至超過2萬輛？

Well, I think there's certainly -- the lessons from the Roadster are more in terms of an understanding of what it takes to produce a compelling electric car. And if you think of -- the way I think of the Roadster model is kind of like the -- if the Roadster is kind of like the Apple I and the Model S is a bit like sort of the Apple II, and there's -- it makes a huge difference to lower the price.

嗯，我認為確實如此——Roadster 的經驗教訓更多地在於理解如何生產一款引人注目的電動車。如果你仔細想想——我認為 Roadster 有點像 Apple I，而 Model S 有點像 Apple II，那麼——降低價格會帶來巨大的改變。

Basically car sales increase exponentially as you lower the price, so having a vehicle that has a starting price half that of the Roadster is a huge increase in the number of people that can afford to buy the car, and then you consider the increased functionality of the vehicle being five adults and two kids, up to seven people, more cargo space than any other sedan and just great handling. We're aiming to make it the safest car in the world. I mean, these are all things that really amplify demand, so I think we'll be -- I think 20,000 units a years is a very doable number for the Model S.

基本上，隨著價格的降低，汽車銷售量會呈指數級增長。因此，如果一款車型的起售價僅為Roadster的一半，那麼能夠負擔這款車的人數將會大幅增加。此外，考慮到這款車的功能性增強，它可搭載五名成人和兩名兒童，最多可搭載七人，載貨空間也比其他任何轎車都大，而且操控性也非常好。我們的目標是讓它成為世界上最安全的汽車。我的意思是，所有這些都會真正擴大需求，所以我認為——我認為Model S每年的銷售量達到2萬輛是非常可行的。

The Roadster has also enabled us to fine tune our retail strategy, understand how we can sell electric cars actively, and we have sold Roadsters in over 30 countries globally. Small numbers overall but it's really taught us how to sell cars globally and it set the stage for us to sell 20,000 Model S's for our projection globally.

Roadster 也讓我們能夠調整零售策略，了解如何積極銷售電動車。目前，我們已經在全球 30 多個國家銷售了 Roadster。雖然整體銷量不高，但它確實教會了我們如何在全球銷售汽車，並為我們最終實現 2 萬輛 Model S 的全球銷售目標奠定了基礎。

And I guess to that point though, because I guess what we're seeing in the industry is there's still a huge need for education. And I mean it's great that the retail stores, hopefully that does help in that regard and your being I guess one of the front runners in kind of implementing that sort of strategy, which is great, but there still is a lot of consumers that aren't willing to embrace this. There's still so much of a disconnect between the OEMs and like yourself and the utility companies, and I guess my question is how do we bridge that gap? How does education get down to the consumer level to have the confidence to completely forget about any sort of anxiety related to miles per charge?

我想，就這一點而言，我認為我們在這個行業中看到的是，教育需求仍然巨大。零售店在這方面能有所幫助，這很好，而且您是實施這種策略的領跑者之一，這很好，但仍然有很多消費者不願意接受這一點。原始設備製造商（OEM）和像您這樣的公用事業公司之間仍然存在很大的脫節，我的問題是，我們如何彌補這種差距？教育如何深入消費者層面，讓他們有信心完全忘記與每次充電行駛里程相關的任何焦慮？

I think we're making good strides in the -- with the range concern with the Model S, having the option to have up to a 300-mile range of vehicle, sort of a roughly 45-minute charge time from a (inaudible) charge, and then enabling the pack to be swapped out in under a minute, and then that's not bad for going to essentially a second generation of vehicles.

我認為我們在 Model S 的續航里程方面取得了良好的進展，可以選擇將車輛續航里程提高到 300 英里，一次充電大約需要 45 分鐘（聽不清楚），然後可以在一分鐘內更換電池組，這對於第二代汽車來說已經很不錯了。

And I've said for many years now that in order to make some things -- in order to really to achieve the mass market, to have something be compelling at the mass market level for a product, you really need to optimize the design and achieve economies of scale. And I think generally you need to do about three significant iterations on a new technology at least, and that's why our strategy has been to start off with the Roadster at low volumes with a relatively higher price, then go to the Model S, mid volumes, mid price, and then our third generation vehicle would be high volumes at a low price, or a lower price.

多年來我一直強調，為了製造某些產品——為了真正進入大眾市場，為了讓一款產品在大眾市場上具有吸引力，你真的需要優化設計，實現規模經濟。我認為，新技術通常需要至少三次的重要迭代，這就是為什麼我們的策略是先從Roadster開始，產量較低，價格相對較高；然後是Model S，產量中等，價格中等；最後，我們的第三代車型將以低價或更低的價格實現產量較高。

Well, I guess my last question would be I was just curious, you briefly touched on competition and I think Fisker as well as probably anyone else that has problems in the industry gives a growing industry a bad name. But I was getting -- I guess we don't have a national standard with charging, and I was wondering if you could just give us your thoughts on what you see -- we need to see from the government to have a national standard put in place so maybe that actually welcomes consumers about not worrying about the next -- the new technology coming so quickly.

嗯，我想我的最後一個問題是，我只是好奇，您剛才簡單提到了競爭，我認為菲斯克以及業內其他任何遇到問題的公司，都給一個正在成長的行業帶來了壞名聲。但我想——我們目前還沒有一個全國性的充電標準，我想您能否談談您的看法——我們需要政府推出一個全國性的標準，這樣或許可以讓消費者不必擔心下一個——新技術的快速到來。

Sure. Well, there is a SAE charging standard which is not bad. I mean, it could use some refinement, and there are sort of additional SAE charging standards that are coming out. But I think it's actually going to be okay. I think the issue is really going to be one of production limitations rather than demand limitations, and I think -- I mean, I think -- I hope this is true but I think it's true is that Tesla will always be, at least for the next several years, production limited.

當然。嗯，美國汽車工程師學會（SAE）的充電標準還不錯。我的意思是，它還可以進一步改進，而且還有一些其他的SAE充電標準即將推出。但我認為它實際上會沒問題。我認為真正的問題在於產量限制，而不是需求限制。我認為——我的意思是，我認為——我希望這是真的，但我認為特斯拉至少在未來幾年內都會受到產量限制。

I mean, right now if you put down a deposit for a Model S, you've got to wait 18 months and yet people are still putting down deposits, a minimum of $5,000. So until -- at least being from Tesla's standpoint, until we start seeing deposits, that wait time go from 18 months to let's say three months or six months, then really our focus needs to be on ramping up production as fast as possible.

我的意思是，現在如果你支付Model S的訂金，你必須等18個月，但人們仍然在支付訂金，最低5000美元。所以，至少從特斯拉的角度來看，直到我們開始收到訂金，等待時間從18個月縮短到比如說3個月或6個月，我們才真正需要專注於盡快提高產量。

Thank you very much.

非常感謝。

Thanks, John.

謝謝，約翰。

Looking forward to speaking to you guys soon.

期待很快與你們交談。

All right.

好的。

Tyrone, we have time for one more quick question.

泰隆，我們還有時間再問一個簡短的問題。

Thank you. Our next question is from William Peck. Your line is open.

謝謝。下一個問題來自 William Peck。您的線路已開通。

I think my question has been answered for the most part, Mr. Musk. I was curious about previous factory output for the NUMMI auto factory, I think up to 500,000 cars a year. With Model S looking at 20,000 and Model X at up to 15,000 a year, I was just curious about any plans or vision for maxing out your capacity in the future, maybe in conjunction with this recent contract to settle a set point for your automation.

馬斯克先生，我想我的問題基本上已經得到了解答。我之前對NUMMI汽車工廠的產量很感興趣，我估計每年最多能生產50萬輛汽車。 Model S的年產量預計是2萬輛，Model X的年產量預計是1.5萬輛，我只是好奇你們未來有什麼計劃或願景來最大化產能，或許可以結合最近簽訂的這份合同，為你們的自動化設定一個基準。

Well, I think we certainly hope at some point in the future to use the full capacity of the NUMMI factory at a half million vehicles a year, and we're going to work towards that as fast as we reasonably can but without getting too far ahead of ourselves. We don't want to bite off more than we can chew at any given point in time, and so we're trying to sort of make the sense of all things.

嗯，我認為我們當然希望在未來某個時候能夠充分利用NUMMI工廠的全部產能，達到每年50萬輛的產量。我們會盡可能快地實現這一目標，但不會操之過急。我們不想在任何時候貪多嚼不爛，所以我們正在努力理清所有事情。

But we want to come out with a new product every year, and so that will be Model S obviously next year, Model X the year thereafter, and another vehicle the year after that, another vehicle the year after that. And try to get to that full capacity as soon as we reasonably can, but making intelligent use of the capital we have on hand. So we'd like to be able to use the free cash flow from existing sales of say the Model S and Model X to sort of then leap up to the next level without having to go through a significant dilutive event. That's our strategy and sort of what I think makes sense for us to do. That's what we're going to try to execute.

但我們希望每年都推出新產品，所以明年一定會推出Model S，後年推出Model X，後年再推出另一款車型。我們會盡快達到滿載生產，但要合理利用現有資金。因此，我們希望能夠利用現有Model S和Model X銷售產生的自由現金流，在不經歷重大稀釋事件的情況下，實現跨越式發展。這就是我們的策略，也是我認為合理的做法。我們會努力執行。

Thank you very much for your time.

非常感謝您抽出時間。

Thank you. Tyrone, I've got some quick closing remarks. So thank you everyone for joining us today. We look forward to seeing many of you even as soon as next week. Next Monday we'll be at Pacific Crest's Emerging Technology Summit in Vale or on Wednesday we'll be at JPMorgan's Automotive Conference in Detroit. So thank you for your time and interest in Tesla and have a great day.

謝謝。泰隆，我最後想說幾句。感謝大家今天的參與。我們期待下週與大家見面。下週一我們將參加在維爾舉行的太平洋頂峰新興科技高峰會，週三我們將參加在底特律舉行的摩根大通汽車大會。感謝大家抽出時間，對特斯拉感興趣，祝大家有美好的一天。

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your participation in today's conference. This concludes the program. You may now disconnect. Have a wonderful day.

女士們，先生們，感謝各位參加今天的會議。今天的節目到此結束。現在您可以斷開連線了。祝您擁有美好的一天。