吸塵器制造商戴森計劃于2020年推出電動汽車

Dyson is working on a premium electric car to go on sale in 2020, as the British technology group enters the motor industry at a time of intense change and disruption.

英國科技集團戴森(Dyson)正致力于生產一款豪華電動汽車，將于2020年發(fā)售，該公司正在激烈變革與顛覆之際進軍汽車行業(yè)。

The company behind the eponymous vacuum cleaner and hand dryers has been working on electric battery technology for almost two decades. Over the past two years it has built an automotive team of 400 engineers, drawn from manufacturers including BMW, Aston Martin and Tesla, and is preparing to use its research to give it the edge in a ferociously competitive sector.

這家生產戴森吸塵器和干手器的公司致力于電動電池技術已有近20年時間。過去兩年，該公司組建了一個包括400名工程師的汽車團隊，這些工程師都是從寶馬(BMW)、阿斯頓馬丁(Aston Martin)和特斯拉(Tesla)等汽車制造商那里挖來的，該公司正準備利用其研究在這個競爭激烈的行業(yè)占據優(yōu)勢。

“We know this is a crowded market,” said founder James Dyson as he announced that the company would spend £2bn on the car and battery technology. He also predicted that the automotive business would outgrow the rest of the company “quickly”.

“我們知道，這是一個擁擠的市場，”創(chuàng)始人詹姆斯•戴森(James Dyson)在宣布該公司將在汽車和電池技術領域投資20億英鎊時表示。他還預測，汽車業(yè)務的發(fā)展速度將“迅速”超過該公司其他業(yè)務。

It will spend £1bn on the battery and £1bn on designing and making the car, with the promise of future models to help recoup the investment.

該公司將在電池領域斥資10億英鎊，還將投資10億英鎊用于這款汽車的設計和生產，并承諾未來的車型將幫助收回投資。

Andrew Bergbaum, managing director for automotive at AlixPartners consultancy, said the timeline of building a plant and launching a car by 2020 was “very ambitious” and the company was likely to incur “years of losses” before recouping its investment.

戴森將在未來幾個月就汽車制造地(要么是英國，要么可能是中國)做出決定，這樣該公司就能敲定與供應商的談判。

Dyson will decide where to manufacture the car — whether in the UK or possibly Asia — in the coming months so that it can finalise negotiations with suppliers.

咨詢公司AlixPartners汽車行業(yè)董事總經理安德魯•貝里鮑姆(Andrew Bergbaum)表示，在2020年之前建廠和推出汽車的時間表“非常野心勃勃”，該公司在收回投資之前可能會經歷“多年虧損”。

Dyson said it believed its development of solid-state batteries — which can hold higher power and charge in less time than conventional lithium-ion batteries — would help it compete with more established rivals.

戴森表示，該公司認為固態(tài)電池的開發(fā)(可以比傳統(tǒng)鋰電池儲存更多電量而且充電時間較少)將有利于它與更知名的對手競爭。

Dyson plans to design and manufacture the new vehicle itself, rather than working with existing carmakers, though it will use established suppliers for tyres and other components.

戴森計劃自己設計和生產這款新車，不與現(xiàn)有汽車制造商合作，不過輪胎和其他配件將使用知名供應商。

It will move its engineers to a former airfield at RAF Hullavington in Wiltshire early next year.

該公司將于明年初把工程師調往位于英國威爾特郡(Wiltshire)Hullavington的一個英國皇家空軍(RAF)前機場。

The site would be the most likely place to manufacture the car in the UK, Sir James said, though he added that China would be its largest market because of concerns over air quality.

詹姆斯爵士表示，這里將最有可能成為這款汽車在英國的制造地，不過他補充稱，由于對空氣質量的擔憂，中國將成為其最大市場。