Tesla過度依賴自動化導致生產延宕 - 汽車

原文連結：https://goo.gl/9ZuDxd

原文內容：

The guy telling everyone to be afraid of robots uses too many robots
in his factory.

Elon Musk says Tesla relied on too many robots to build the Model 3,
which is partly to blame for the delays in manufacturing the crucial
mass-market electric car. In an interview with CBS Good Morning, Musk
agreed with Tesla's critics that there was over-reliance on automation
and too few human assembly line workers building the Model 3.

Elon Musk表示特斯拉過度依賴機器人於 Model 3的生產，部分導致了這台主流
市場產品生產的延宕，他也目前的生產線上自動化的部份過多而人力作業的確
太少了。

Earlier this month, Tesla announced that it had officially missed its
goal of making 2,500 Model 3 vehicles a week by the end of the first
financial quarter of this year. It will start the second quarter making
just 2,000 Model 3s per week, but the company says it still believes
it can get to a rate of 5,000 Model 3s per week at the midway point
of 2018.

本月稍早特斯拉正式宣布其沒有完成2500(台/周)的季度目標，但他們仍然相信
於2018年中能達成5000 (台/周)的生產速率。

Previously, Tesla has blamed bottlenecks in the production of the
Model 3’s batteries at the company’s Gigafactory for the delays. But
in a wide-ranging (and largely positive) interview with CBS’s
Gayle King, Musk also admits it was Tesla’s over-reliance on
robots in the production.

先前特斯拉將瓶頸歸罪於電池的生產，但Musk也承認是過度依賴自動化所導致。

Musk then said the company needs more people working in the factory
and that automation slowed the Model 3 production process. He alluded
to a “crazy, complex network of conveyor belts” the company had
previously used and said the company eliminated it after it became
clear it wasn’t working.

Musk接著表示生產需要更多的人力作業，也提到複雜的物料輸送系統在被發現並不
管用之後只好被移除。

It’s a fairly stunning admission from the man who previously likened
his company’s massive factory to an “alien dreadnought” thanks to
the complex assemblage of advanced robotic arms building its line of
electric cars. In an earnings call with investors last year, Musk
spoke about the production speeds facilitated by Tesla’s robots.
“It’s remarkable how much can be done by just beating up robots ...
adding additional robots at choke points and just making lines go
really, really fast,” he said. “Speed is the ultimate weapon.”

對於曾經將其工廠比擬成外星無畏級戰艦，且對投資人誇口機器人如何加快了
生產線速度的Elon Musk來說，現在的坦白其實令人有點震驚。

Last year, Tesla acquired Perbix, a private machining firm that makes
automated equipment for factories, allowing the carmaker to bring the
production of more parts in-house. Tesla described the deal as a
step further in its long-stated ambition to “build the machine
that makes the machine.”

去年特斯拉收購了Perbix，希望更進一步完成"用機器製造機器"的野心。

In fact, Musk was so confident that Tesla had gotten right the mix
of robots and humans that its giant Gigafactory would become the
company’s ultimate product. “The competitive strength of Tesla
long-term is not going to be the car, it’s going to be the factory,”
he said last February. “We’re going to productize the factory.”

事實上，Musk曾經表示他們的最終目標並不是汽車，而是製造出超級工廠。

Musk is also one of the foremost voices urging caution in the
development of robotics and artificial intelligence. He has called
for governments to regulate AI to prevent the technology from
threatening human existence, and has warned for a coming
“AI apocalypse.”

Musk其實是最先敦促政府必須管制AI以避免AI末日災難的發生的人。

Also in the interview, Musk said the Model 3’s technical
complexities were additionally to blame for the company’s ongoing
“production hell.” “We got complacent about some of the things
we felt were our core technology, we put too much new technology
into the Model 3 all at once,” Musk said.

Musk在訪談中提到，在Model 3上放入了過多的科技也是造成生產地獄的原因。
(Scape大指出 根據CBS訪談 此處應指在Model 3 產線上放入過多新科技)

A spokesperson for Tesla declined to clarify Musk’s comments.
While aesthetically more minimal than the Model S or X, the Model 3
uses 2170 lithium-ion battery cells, which are more complex than the
industry-standard 18650 battery cells used in the Model S and X.
Musk previously confirmed that Tesla’s Gigafactory 1 in Nevada was
the source for the production bottlenecks slowing Model 3 deliveries.
Panasonic, Tesla’s battery cell manufacturing partner at the factory,
has also confirmed this.

Model 3的確使用了較目前18650更為複雜的2170鋰電池。

To be sure, Musk has used the “too much technology” excuse before.
In 2016, he owned up to the problems with production of the Model X,
telling an audience of Tesla shareholders, “This [Model X] program
has been challenging. I particularly need to fault myself for a fair
bit of hubris for putting too much technology all at once into a
product.” The Model 3, he said, would not have as much technology
as the Model S and X.

使用"放入過多科技"這個招數，其實在Model X的時候就曾經用過了，現在
效果應該不怎麼顯著。

Now Musk said he has taken over production of the Model 3, sleeping
at Tesla’s Fremont factory in an effort to keep tabs on the vehicle’s
rollout. In the interview, he shows King the conference room where
he sleeps. A pillow and sleeping bag can be seen in the shot. King
calls the couch “not even [...] comfortable.”

Musk表示現在他已接管了Model 3的生產，睡在工廠內不怎麼舒服的沙發上。

心得/說明：

首次翻譯外電有誤請指正。

其實真心希望電動車能在特斯拉的帶領下發展起來，希望特斯拉不要自己毀了
電動車的美好未來啊!

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