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Electric vehicle companies are racing to become the next Tesla, but want to avoid Elon Musk's early problems with production.
电动汽车公司正在竞相成为下一个特斯拉，但它们希望避免埃隆·马斯克早期在生产方面出现的问题。
So, companies like Arrival and Fisker are taking very different roads to overcome such issues.
因此，像Arrival和Fisker这样的公司正在采取截然不同的方式来克服这些问题。
A few have found investors who are willing to spend billions to finance their startups.
一些人已经找到了愿意为他们的初创企业投资数十亿美元的投资者。
Rivian has raised around $10.5 billion from Amazon.com and Ford Motor Company.
Rivian已经从亚马逊和福特汽车公司筹集了约105亿美元。
It is set to begin production on electric vans, trucks and SUVs.
该公司将开始生产电动货车、卡车和运动型多用途汽车（SUV）。
Startup companies without enough investment money need less costly ways to produce a lot of vehicles in a short time.
没有足够投资资金的初创公司需要用成本更低的方式在短时间内生产大量汽车。
If they cannot, they risk having the problems Tesla had in its early years.
如果做不到这一点，他们就可能会遇到特斯拉早年出现的问题。
The remarkable thing is that Tesla was not ruined financially in reaching mass production, Musk told Reuters news agency.
马斯克告诉路透社称，值得注意的是，特斯拉在实现大规模生产的过程中没有遭受财政损失。
The traditional method of many carmakers has been to spend above $2 billion on a big factory to build 240,000 or more vehicles each year.
许多汽车制造商的传统做法是，投资20多亿美元建立大型工厂，每年生产24万辆或更多的汽车。
Arrival has chosen instead to build electric van and bus "microfactories."
相反，Arrival选择建造电动货车和公共汽车“微型工厂”。
They are small factories that cost $50 million and have fewer pieces of expensive equipment.
它们是耗资5000万美元的小型工厂，昂贵的设备较少。
Arrival does not need special equipment to paint its vehicles because they are made of lightweight colored plastic.
Arrival不需要用来喷漆的特殊设备，因为它们的车是由轻型彩色塑料制成的。
Painting equipment can cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
喷漆设备的价格可能高达数亿美元。
Arrival plans microfactories close to major markets around the world.
Arrival计划在世界各地的主要市场附近建立微型工厂。
This will let them hire local workers, and lessen shipping costs.
这将使他们能够雇佣当地工人，并降低运输成本。
The money a company must raise "to do this the traditional way...keeps startups from coming forward with new ideas," said Mike Abelson.
一家公司“以传统方式做这件事”必须筹集的资金……让初创公司无法提出新的想法，”迈克·艾贝尔森说。
He is the North American head of Arrival.
他是Arrival的北美负责人。
The company raised about $660 million from selling shares of its company in its March public offering.
该公司在3月份的公开募股中通过出售公司股票筹集了约6.6亿美元。
Now, it is building two U.S. plants.
现在，它正在美国建造两座工厂。
One is in North Carolina and will make vans.
一家位于北卡罗来纳州，将生产货车。
The other is in South Carolina and will make buses.
另一家位于南卡罗来纳州，将制造公共汽车。
In addition, it is building a factory in Spain.
此外，它正在西班牙建造一家工厂。
Abelson said Arrival will announce more factories later this year.
艾贝尔森说，Arrival将在今年晚些时候宣布建造更多工厂。
Arrival's first microfactory in Bicester, England, will serve as the model for other plants.
Arrival在英国比斯特的第一家微型工厂将作为其他工厂的样板。
The lack of painting equipment is just one way the company will avoid the costs of traditional vehicle making.
不用喷漆设备只是该公司规避传统汽车制造成本的一种方式。
The startup's engineers have built molds for plastic vehicle parts costing thousands of dollars.
这家初创公司的工程师已经为汽车的塑料部件制作了模具，花费数千美元。
That is far less than the millions of dollars needed for traditional metal equipment.
这远远低于传统金属设备所需的数百万美元。
Arrival's engineers have also designed their own molding machines.
Arrival的工程师也设计了公司自己的铸模机。
Abelson said Arrival needs around 70 robots for each microfactory.
艾贝尔森说，每个微型工厂需要大约70个机器人。
And it is buying only commonly used, basic robots from long-time car industry suppliers.
而且它只从老牌汽车行业供应商那里购买常用的基本款机器人。
Going small means that Arrival can produce 10,000 vans each year in each microfactory rather than 100,000, Abelson says.
艾贝尔森说，小型化意味着Arrival每年可以在每个微型工厂生产1万辆货车，而不是10万辆。
Also, each microfactory will create around 250 jobs. That is not close to the many thousands of jobs created by larger plants in the past.
此外，每个微型工厂将创造约250个工作岗位。这与过去的大型工厂创造的数千个就业岗位相去甚远。
"That means if a plant doesn't work out, it's not a disaster for a local economy," Abelson said.
艾贝尔森说：“这意味着如果一家工厂倒闭，对当地经济也不会造成灾难性的打击。”
"A major car plant closing is a big hole to fill."
“一家大型汽车厂的关闭是一个需要填补的大窟窿。”
Electric vehicle maker Canoo has taken a similar path.
电动汽车制造商Canoo也采取了类似的做法。
But leader Tony Aquila said Canoo will build a larger microfactory to serve as a center for smaller future factories.
但该公司负责人托尼·阿奎拉表示，Canoo将建造一座更大的微型工厂，作为未来小型工厂的中心。
Electric Last Mile Solutions plans to launch a small electric van in the United States later this year.
“电动车最后一英里解决方案”计划今年晚些时候在美国推出一款小型电动货车。
At first, it will reassemble prefinished vehicles made in China at an old General Motors plant in Indiana.
首先，它将在印第安纳州的一家通用汽车的旧工厂重新组装在中国生产的预制汽车。
There, it will add new safety features to meet U.S. regulations.
汽车将在那里增加新的安全功能，以符合美国的规定。
Company head James Taylor said this will at first save hundreds of millions of dollars on equipment.
公司负责人詹姆斯·泰勒表示，这首先将在设备上节省数亿美元。
As profits grow, it will add in more American parts over time.
随着利润的增长和时间的推移，在美国生产的零部件将会增多。
"We'll work our way backwards," Taylor said.
泰勒说：“我们会倒着走我们的路。”
Other startups are doing production overseas to cut costs.
其他初创企业也在海外进行生产，以削减成本。
Israel-based REE is looking at agreements with American Axle and Mitsubishi to help build its electric platforms.
总部位于以色列的REE正在寻求与美国车桥和三菱达成协议，帮助其搭建电动平台。
Both REE and Fisker have also teamed up with Canadian car supplier Magna International to build their electric vehicles.
REE和Fisker也都与加拿大汽车供应商麦格纳国际合作生产电动汽车。
Fisker has a similar agreement with Taiwan's Foxconn Technology.
菲斯克与台湾的富士康科技也有类似的协议。
I'm Alice Bryant.
我是爱丽丝·布莱恩特。
