China’s BYD is overtaking Tesla as the carmaker extraordinaire

中国的比亚迪正在超越特斯拉，成为顶尖汽车制造商

It’s the Toyota of Evs

它是电动汽车届的丰田

To get a sense of why Toyoda Akio announced on January 26th that he would hand over the keys to the world’s biggest carmaker to Sato Koji, his number two, watch the surreal video from 2021 of the two of them driving Toyota’s first Lexus electric vehicle (EV). 

要了解丰田章男为什么会在1月26日宣布把全球最大的车厂交给他的副手佐藤恒治，可以看一下2021年他们两人驾驶丰田首款雷克萨斯电动车的超现实视频。

Mr Toyoda is at the wheel. At first, it is clear that he is a bit of an EV sceptic: he notes that the car feels heavy to drive. Then he puts his foot to the floor, and as the speed picks up he whoops with joy like an overexcited Top Gun pilot. It is cringeworthy—but pertinent. 

丰田章男手握方向盘，起初他显然对电动车有所怀疑，说车子开起来感觉很重。然后，他把加速踏板踩到了底，随着车速加快，他像《壮志凌云》里过度兴奋的飞行员一样高兴地欢呼起来。这场面着实令人尴尬，但也是一种真实表现。

Toyota is seen by many as an EV laggard. In announcing his decision to vacate his position to Mr Sato, who is 13 years younger, the chairman-designate made clear it was time for a new generation to speed up the move into the electric era.

丰田被许多人视为电动汽车领域的落后者。在宣布让位给比他小13岁的佐藤恒治时，这位候任会长明言，是时候让新一代管理者加速带领公司迈入电动时代了。

Much of the media commentary surrounding Mr Toyoda’s move casts it as a response to Tesla. That is too Western-centric. Tesla may be the world’s biggest EV producer and, according to Elon Musk, its boss, so far ahead of the competition that he cannot see the number two with a telescope. 

媒体评论大多把丰田章男此次让贤描述为针对特斯拉的应对之策。这么看就太过以西方为中心了。特斯拉也许是世界上最大的电动汽车生产商，据其老板埃隆·马斯克称，特斯拉已经远远甩开了竞争对手，拿望远镜都看不到第二名。

Yet it ignores a Chinese newcomer that, for all Mr Musk’s bombast, Toyota no doubt takes as seriously as it does Tesla. It is BYD, which this year may overtake Tesla as the biggest global seller of pure EVs (not including hybrids, which it also makes). 

但它忽略了一家新晋中国车企，尽管马斯克夸夸其谈，但丰田显然会像对待特斯拉一样认真对待这个中国车企。它就是比亚迪，今年可能会超越特斯拉，成为全球最大的纯电动汽车生产商（不包括其同样也在生产的混合动力汽车）。

BYD is Toyota’s EV partner in China as well as a rising competitor globally. More important, it emulates many of the traits that for decades have made Toyota the world’s most successful car company.

比亚迪是丰田在中国的电动汽车合作伙伴，也是丰田在全球市场日益崛起的竞争对手。更重要的是，它还复刻了几十年来让丰田成为全球最成功车企的许多特质。

Both East Asian firms share historical parallels. They did not start in the car industry. The company that gave rise to Toyota made automatic looms. BYD’s inaugural products were batteries for mobile phones. From the outset, they were so far behind their global carmaking rivals that they looked to do things differently. 

这两家东亚公司有着相似的发展史。它们都不是造车起家的。丰田的前身是一家生产自动织布机的公司。比亚迪最初是生产手机电池的。从一开始，它们就远远落后于其他全球车企，所以干脆另辟蹊径。

In pre-war Japan, Toyota toyed with using charcoal as a fuel instead of petrol. BYD used its battery expertise to focus on EVs and plug-in hybrids, known in China as new-energy vehicles (NEVs). They both honed their skills domestically and when they went abroad started in relatively underdeveloped car markets.

在战前的日本，丰田公司曾尝试用木炭替代汽油作为燃料。比亚迪则利用其在电池方面的专长，专注开发电动汽车和插电式混合动力汽车（在中国被称为新能源汽车）。两家公司都是现在本国练就本领，也都从相对不发达的汽车市场入手进军海外。

Yet these tentative carmaking beginnings quickly developed a life of their own. In a six-year stretch from 1955 until 1961, Toyota’s exports grew more than 40-fold and it has not looked back since. BYD says it took 13 years to manufacture its first million NEVs. It took a year to get to the second million. Six months later it reached 3m. 

而这些尝试性的造车业务很快就有了起色。从1955年到1961年的6年时间里，丰田的出口量增长了40多倍，此后也一路高歌猛进。比亚迪表示，其新能源车产量达到100万辆花了13年时间。之后达到200万辆仅用时1年，又过了6个月，其累计产量已达300万辆。

It lists operations in dozens of countries and says it has production bases in places ranging from China to Brazil, Hungary, India and beyond. It makes electric buses in California’s Mojave desert. 

比亚迪的业务遍及数十个国家，在中国、巴西、匈牙利、印度等地都设有生产基地。它还在美国加州的莫哈韦沙漠设厂生产电动大巴。

It is now the world’s second-biggest producer of lithium-ion batteries, behind CATL of China, as well as a maker of commercial vehicles, such as lorries and taxis, and electronic gadgets. These give it a bridgehead for global expansion.

比亚迪现在是全球第二大锂离子电池生产商（仅次于中国的宁德时代），同时也生产货车、出租车等商用车辆和小电子设备。这些为其全球扩张提供了桥头堡。

(红色标注词为重难点词汇)