特斯拉又多了一家新对手：这次，它来自中国

    几乎每天都会冒出一家新的电动汽车厂商。就把它们叫做“特斯拉对手”吧。或者再大胆些，称之为“特斯拉杀手”。这些新创企业都雄心勃勃。它们无一例外地表明，人们对电动汽车领域越来越感兴趣；但它们也揭示了一种集体失忆症，那就是人们忘了初创汽车制造商真要白手起家会有多么困难。

    路透社的一篇报道提到了最新的“特斯拉对手”。报道中称，这家新成立的初创企业名叫上海蔚来新能源汽车有限公司，它获得了多家中国互联网企业的支持。蔚来新能源称，它将于2016年推出一款电动超级跑车。

    报道指出，蔚来新能源的投资方包括为Uber提供资金的高瓴资本和中国互联网巨擘腾讯。同时，该公司看来还从福特、特斯拉以及宝马挖来了高级管理人员。

    这就是打算在某些方面和特斯拉一较高下的最新电动车制造商。几个月前，新“特斯拉对手”这个头衔还属于设在加州加迪纳市的初创公司Faraday Future。据报道，这家公司去年成立，已有200名员工，其中一些来自特斯拉。它定于2017年推出首款电动汽车，还不清楚其资金来源。

    从事电池制造的初创企业Boston Power也曾被称为“特斯拉对手”，主要原因是该公司计划建立一家规模可观的电池厂，并和中国汽车厂商合作生产低成本电动车。Boston Power最初设在美国，2011年迁至中国，原因是当时很难在美国为电池科技公司筹得资金。

    Boston Power的投资人是金沙江创业投资基金，后者专门为立足于中国的企业提供资金。Boston Power董事长伍伸俊（也是金沙江创投的董事总经理）在该公司进行最后一轮融资时对《华尔街日报》表示，金沙江创投向Boston Power出资的原因是必须有人跟埃隆·穆斯克（特斯拉汽车公司CEO）一决高下。

    去年，设在旧金山湾区的高档电动车厂商Renovo Motors在悄然开发四年后推出了真正的高档电动超跑Renovo Coupe，使用锂离子电池。Renovo Motors获得了硅谷投资者支持，俨然是跑车版的特斯拉。

    此外，被中国汽车零部件龙头万向集团收购后，两年前一败涂地的电动车厂商Fisker Automotive（已更名为NewFisker）计划东山再起。该公司打算在加州莫里诺市建立一座工厂，并聘用150名员工。它表示，设在加州科斯塔梅萨市的总部另有员工240人。

    这些新成立的初创公司都试图追寻特斯拉的足迹，而且都冒险独立推出电动汽车，这里有几个原因。毫无疑问，特斯拉的成功鼓舞了其中多家企业。特斯拉的创立者和早期员工都成了富人，它的Model S轿车非常受欢迎，乃至于美国《消费者报告》杂志给出了历史最高评级。

    但推出一款新车最起码也要数亿美元，高档车所需资金更是达到十几亿美元。初创型科技公司的融资能力当然达不到这样的水平。这正是特斯拉能挺过来的部分原因，也就是说，当特斯拉需要支持时，穆斯克手里已经有了这样一笔资金。

    短短几年时间里，已经折戟沉沙的汽车公司包括Aptera、Coda Automotive、Think Automotive、Wheego和FiskerAutomotive（不知是否有遗漏）。

    特斯拉的成功掩盖了十多年来它战胜的那些困难。该公司曾多次濒临绝境。两年前，举步维艰的特斯拉差一点儿就被谷歌收入囊中。准备生产首款电动车Roadster时，该公司也处于破产边缘。

    今后特斯拉仍可能陷入困境。为了推出新车Model X和Model 3并让大型电池厂Gigafactory投入运作，它仍在借款和集资。该公司的经营状态仍然如同一家初创企业，承担的风险也和后者别无二致。特斯拉无疑还会遇到障碍，出现这种情况时，上述急不可耐的初创公司会不会望而却步呢？

    同时，新的电动车初创企业出现在中国并不意外。中国对拥有自主电动车技术非常感兴趣，因而为愿意在中国建厂的电池和汽车公司提供支持。此外，中国不鼓励在某些地区使用烧汽油的汽车，而且正在设法让人们少开车，以减少“名声在外”的空气污染。

    就像对待太阳能电池板行业一样，中国愿意大力支持国产技术，并着力扶持自己希望进入的市场。这就产生了由盛到衰的往复循环。中国很可能出现一批电动汽车初创企业，他们会声名鹊起，也有可能输得很惨。

    路透社报道称，中国政府最近决定鼓励其他行业向汽车行业投资。蔚来新能源的互联网投资者只是支持新兴电动车企业的团体之一。

    该报道指出，阿里巴巴和小米也在考虑向电动车厂商投资。专门鼓励其他行业对这个行业投资可能只会给这个盛衰循环再添一把火。

    中国互联网公司有意支持电动车初创企业的另一部分原因是它们想借此与苹果公司以及谷歌据传正在开发的电动车技术一较高下。如果相关报道说得没错，苹果正在大力开发一个名为Titan的电动车项目。

    但总的来说，新创业者和投资者对电动车技术兴趣日浓的趋势表明，电动车领域可能缓慢地出现怎样的改变。电动轿车只占美国汽车销量的很小一部分，但尽管如此，美国汽车市场的局势也开始慢慢有了变化。在挪威等国，电动车已经在新车销量中占了很大比重。

    当市场上出现更好、更便宜的电动车时，购买者无疑会增多。实际上，特斯拉目前尚未遇到对手。这项技术还处在萌芽阶段，而且正由特斯拉向前推进。

    电动车行业真正出现竞争最终会是一件非常好的事情。它意味着消费者和企业已经把电动车视为一个欣欣向荣的重要市场。

    同时，另一个大概率事件是能真正跟特斯拉竞争的电动车将来自资金实力雄厚的大型汽车制造商。这些汽车行业龙头需要做的只是足够认真地对待这个市场。（财富中文网）

    译者：Charlie

    校对：詹妮

    Another day brings another new electric automaker. Call them “Tesla rivals.” Maybe, if you’re feeling especially bold, “Tesla killers.” All of these new ambitious ventures demonstrate the growing interest in electric transportation. But they also reveal a collective amnesia about just how difficult it really is to build a new automotive startup from scratch.

    The newest one comes courtesy of a Reuters report,which describes a brand-new, Shanghai-based startup called NextEV backed by a group of Chinese Internet entrepreneurs. The company says it will launch anelectric supercar in 2016.

    Investors in NextEV reportedly include Hillhouse Capital, which also backed Uber, and Chinese Internet giant Tencent. The company appears to have hired executives from Ford F , Tesla TSLA , and BMW BAMXY .

    And that’s just the latest company aiming to compete on some level with Tesla. A couple of months ago the new “Tesla rival” was Faraday Future, a startup based in Gardena, Calif. That company was reportedlyfounded last year, and already has 200 employees—including some from Tesla. The plan is to launch their first electric car in 2017. It’s unclear who’s funding the venture.

    At one point battery startup Boston Power was alsodubbed a Tesla rival, largely due to its plans to build a sizable battery factory and partner with Chinese automakers to build a low-cost electric car. Boston Power was originally founded in the U.S., but moved to China in 2011 when the funding for battery tech in the U.S. got difficult.

    Boston Power has been funded by GSR Ventures, a venture firm that funds businesses to grow in China. Boston Power chairman Sonny Wu (who’s also a managing partner with GSR Venures) told the Wall Street Journal at the time of the last funding round that the firm funded the company because “somebody” had to compete with Elon Musk.

    Last year Bay Area startup Renovo Motors emerged from stealth after four years in development with a really high-end electric supercar called the “Renovo Coupe.” With Silicon Valley backers, and the use of lithium-ion batteries, it’s like a racing-version of a budding Tesla.

    There’s also Fisker Automotive, which despite it’sspectacular crash and burn two years ago, still hasplans to re-launch under its new owner Chinese auto-parts giant Wanxiang. The company has plans to build a factory in Moreno Valley, Calif. that will employ 150 workers. Another 240 people work at the company’s headquarters in Costa Mesa, Fisker says.

    There are a variety of reasons why this group of new startups is attempting to follow in the footsteps of Tesla and tempt fate by launching an electric car out of an independent car company.

    Many of these startups have no doubt been encouraged by the successes of Tesla. The company has made its founder and early employees wealthy, and its Model S sedan has been so well-received that it aced its Consumer Reports rating.

    But launching a new car requires, on the very low end, hundreds of millions of dollars. On the higher end, it requires more than a billion dollars. The business is naturally at odds with the type of financing a tech startup can raise. That’s partly why Tesla made it through the hard times, because Musk already had money to support the company when it needed it.

    The list of car companies that haven’t worked in only the past few years include Aptera, Coda Automotive, Think Automotive, Wheego, and Fisker. (Am I forgetting anything?)

    Tesla’s success overshadows that the company spent over a decade beating all odds. The company almost died several times. It almost sold to Google GOOG during hard times two years ago. It almost went out of business as it was preparing to produce its first vehicle, the Roadster.

    Tesla will also likely go through some hard times ahead. It continues to borrow and raise money to get its next cars, the Model X and Model 3, out the door and its massive Gigafactory battery factory up and running. Tesla is still operating like a startup and taking on the risks of a startup. When Tesla hits some hurdles, which is no doubt will, will it scare off some of these eager startups?

    Meanwhile, it’s not surprising that new electric car startups would emerge out of China. China is very interested in building domestic electric car tech, offering support for battery and auto companies that are willing to build factories in China. The country also discourages vehicles that burn gasoline in certain regions, and is trying to cut down on car driving to reduce its infamously bad air pollutions.

    As the country did with solar panels, China is willing to heavily over-support domestic technology and markets that it wants to get into. This leads to a constant boom and bust cycle. There will likely be a bunch of Chinese electric car startups that will gain fame and potentially crash and burn.

    Reuters reports that the Chinese government has recently decided to encourage investment in the sector from non-automotive companies. The Chinese Internet investors in NextEV are just one group backing a new electric car startup, says Reuters.

    Alibaba and Xiaomi Technology are also considering investments in electric car companies, according to the report. Encouraging specifically non-automotive companies to invest in the sector will likely only heighten this boom and bust cycle.

    Chinese Internet companies could also partly be interested in backing electric car startups as a way to try to compete with electric car tech that Apple and Google are reportedly building. If you believe the reports, Apple is aggressively developing an electric car with the project name Titan.

    But overall, the trend of new entrepreneurs and investors becoming interested in electric car tech shows how the tide around electric transportation could slowly be turning. Electric cars make up only a fraction of cars sold in the U.S., but that’s ever so slowly starting to change. In certain countries, like Norway, electric cars make up an already large portionof new cars sold.

    When better and cheaper electric cars hit the market, more people will no doubt buy them. The reality is that there really are no Tesla competitors currently out there. The technology is at its very earliest stage, and is being pushed forward by Tesla.

    Real electric car competition will eventually be a very good thing. It will mean consumers and companies have embraced electric cars as a thriving and substantial market.

    But it could very well take a big auto maker with deep pockets to fund cars that could truly rival Tesla. The big auto companies just have to take the market seriously enough.