Volvo is trying to put its EV stumbles in the rearview
Volvo is trying to put its EV stumbles in the rearview
沃尔沃试图将电动汽车的挫折抛在脑后
Volvo once had ambitions to fully exit the gas car business. Now it’s trying to keep its tenuous foothold in the EV market. 沃尔沃曾雄心勃勃地计划彻底退出燃油车业务。如今，它正努力在电动汽车市场维持其脆弱的立足点。
It’s not an understatement to say that Volvo’s EV journey has been a bumpy one. The compact EX40 has been a consistent winner, but the Swedish brand’s other EVs have been plagued with problems. The EX90 was supposed to be a bold statement for the future, but persistent software bugs have forced Volvo into an expensive hardware replacement. The tiny EX30 faired no better, with tariffs upending the rollout of the brand’s first mass-market affordable EV, eventually leading to its discontinuation in the US. 毫不夸张地说，沃尔沃的电动汽车之路走得颇为坎坷。紧凑型车 EX40 一直表现稳健，但该瑞典品牌的其他电动车型却饱受问题困扰。EX90 本应是其面向未来的大胆宣言，但持续不断的软件漏洞迫使沃尔沃进行了昂贵的硬件更换。小型车 EX30 的境遇也没好到哪去，关税政策打乱了该品牌首款大众市场平价电动车的发布计划，最终导致其在美国市场停售。
But now with the EX60 compact SUV, Volvo is hoping to get its EV groove back. Volvo’s top executives gathered in New York City this week to mark the new compact SUV’s US debut and to celebrate the opening of orders for customer deliveries later this summer. Starting at $59,795, the next-gen EX60 will be more expensive than the regular, gas-powered XC60 crossover, which has recently become Volvo’s top-selling model of all time. But it will be less expensive than the plug-in hybrid XC60, which says a lot given the popularity of hybrids these days. 但现在，随着紧凑型 SUV EX60 的推出，沃尔沃希望重拾其在电动汽车领域的节奏。本周，沃尔沃高管齐聚纽约，标志着这款全新紧凑型 SUV 在美国的首次亮相，并庆祝其开启预订，预计将于今年夏天晚些时候交付给客户。新一代 EX60 起售价为 59,795 美元，比最近成为沃尔沃史上最畅销车型的常规燃油版 XC60 跨界车更贵。但它比插电式混合动力版 XC60 便宜，考虑到如今混合动力车的受欢迎程度，这一点意义重大。
But the EX60 will arrive in what is arguably the most hostile environment for EVs since their inception, thanks to the elimination of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit, policy changes, and tariffs making vehicles of all types more expensive. As EV sales grow globally, the American market is in an obvious slump. But Volvo thinks the EX60’s impressive traits — 400 miles of range, 10–80 percent fast-charging in 18 minutes, and a steady stream of OTA software updates — will be enough to beat back the headwinds. 然而，EX60 的到来正值电动汽车诞生以来最严峻的环境，这归因于 7,500 美元联邦电动汽车税收抵免的取消、政策变动以及导致各类车辆成本上升的关税。尽管全球电动汽车销量在增长，但美国市场却处于明显的低迷期。不过，沃尔沃认为 EX60 令人印象深刻的特性——400 英里的续航里程、18 分钟内完成 10% 到 80% 的快充，以及持续不断的 OTA 软件更新——足以抵御这些逆风。
“Is this the right time to introduce an electric car with everything you hear on the market?” Volvo CEO Håkan Samuelsson said. “I would say yes, because we think this car will not be electrified with subsidies or incentives. It will be electrified… because we can offer something better to consumers.” “考虑到市场上听到的种种声音，现在是推出电动汽车的好时机吗？”沃尔沃首席执行官哈坎·萨缪尔森（Håkan Samuelsson）说道。“我会说是的，因为我们认为这款车不会依赖补贴或激励措施来实现电动化。它之所以实现电动化……是因为我们能为消费者提供更好的产品。”
Still, Volvo’s previous plans to phase out the sale of gas guzzlers is still evolving. Slowing EV demand and concerns about charging infrastructure have caused some manufacturers to reconsider how quickly they can transition away from gas-powered vehicles. Volvo previously said it would stop selling internal combustion-engine vehicles by 2030, but now has no strict date. The automaker also said it will broaden its scope to include plug-in hybrids and extended-range EVs, echoing a position across the industry. 尽管如此，沃尔沃此前逐步淘汰燃油车的计划仍在演变中。电动汽车需求的放缓以及对充电基础设施的担忧，促使一些制造商重新考虑摆脱燃油车的转型速度。沃尔沃此前曾表示将在 2030 年前停止销售内燃机汽车，但现在已没有明确的截止日期。该车企还表示，将扩大产品范围，纳入插电式混合动力车和增程式电动车，这与整个行业的立场相呼应。
The EX60 represents a new start. Volvo started with a clean sheet, intentionally removing legacy combustion-engine assumptions from the engineering process, Volvo CTO Anders Bell said. To achieve this, the automaker rebuilt its development process around a more modern software-defined architecture. 沃尔沃首席技术官安德斯·贝尔（Anders Bell）表示，EX60 代表了一个新的开始。沃尔沃从零开始，在工程设计过程中刻意摒弃了传统内燃机的固有假设。为了实现这一目标，该车企围绕更现代的“软件定义架构”重建了其开发流程。
“So all the lessons, all the polishing, all the infrastructure, all the learning stuff that has been quite painful over the last few years has now gone into the whole machinery and the whole software,” Bell said. “因此，过去几年中所有痛苦的教训、打磨、基础设施建设以及学习成果，现在都已经融入到了整个机械结构和软件系统中，”贝尔说道。
Getting to a regular cadence for software updates will be another regular feature for the EX60. Bell said that Volvo will release major updates to customers every three months, arguing that quality improves when multiple vehicles share the same digital architecture. Bell said the EX60 already felt significantly more stable in testing than previous Volvo EVs did at the same stage of development. 实现定期的软件更新将是 EX60 的另一项常规功能。贝尔表示，沃尔沃将每三个月向客户发布一次重大更新，并认为当多款车型共享同一数字架构时，质量会得到提升。贝尔称，在测试阶段，EX60 的稳定性明显优于此前处于同等开发阶段的沃尔沃电动车型。
When it comes out, the EX60 will find itself in competition with the Tesla Model Y, one of the most popular vehicles on the planet, as well as a host of promising up-and-coming EVs like the Rivian R2, and BMW iX3. 上市后，EX60 将面临与特斯拉 Model Y（全球最受欢迎的车型之一）的竞争，同时还要应对 Rivian R2 和宝马 iX3 等一系列极具潜力的新兴电动车型的挑战。
That said, the EX60 is not intended to be a “global” car, Samuelsson said, noting that it will primarily be sold in the US and Europe. He described the global automotive industry as increasingly splitting into two separate markets: one centered around China and another around Europe and North America. And while Volvo has access to Chinese technology through its relationship with its parent company Geely, the automaker will remain focused on Western consumers. 萨缪尔森表示，EX60 并非旨在成为一款“全球”车型，并指出它将主要在美国和欧洲销售。他形容全球汽车工业正日益分裂为两个独立的市场：一个以中国为中心，另一个以欧洲和北美为中心。尽管沃尔沃通过其母公司吉利的关联关系能够获取中国技术，但该车企仍将专注于西方消费者。
Samuelsson also hyped up the company’s future hybrid models, which he said would flip the current hybrid formula of producing combustion-engine vehicles supplemented by relatively small batteries for short-distance electric driving. Volvo’s new hybrids will behave primarily like EVs, while retaining a combustion engine as a backup for long trips. These EREVs could appeal strongly to American consumers who are not yet ready to transition fully to battery-electric vehicles, he argued. 萨缪尔森还大力宣传了公司未来的混合动力车型。他表示，这些车型将颠覆当前的混合动力模式——即生产以燃油发动机为主、辅以较小电池用于短途纯电行驶的车辆。沃尔沃的新型混合动力车将主要像电动汽车一样运行，同时保留内燃机作为长途旅行的备用动力。他认为，这些增程式电动车（EREVs）对那些尚未准备好完全转向纯电动汽车的美国消费者具有很强的吸引力。
Volvo’s use of Android Automotive as its core vehicle operating system will also give the company a leg up over its competitors with regard to the integration of more AI features, Bell argued. This week at Google’s I/O conference, Volvo announced that the EX60 would give Gemini access to the vehicle’s external cameras so the AI chatbot could help drivers interpret lane markings and road signs. Volvo is also preparing to deploy Gemini to approximately 2.5 million vehicles dating back to model year 2020 through over-the-air software updates, he said. 贝尔认为，沃尔沃使用 Android Automotive 作为其核心车载操作系统，也将在集成更多人工智能功能方面比竞争对手更具优势。本周在谷歌 I/O 大会上，沃尔沃宣布 EX60 将允许 Gemini 访问车辆的外部摄像头，以便 AI 聊天机器人能帮助驾驶员识别车道线和交通标志。他还表示，沃尔沃正准备通过 OTA 软件更新，将 Gemini 部署到约 250 万辆 2020 款及以后的车型中。