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| It is one of the defining competitions of our age: The countries that can make batteries for electric cars will reap decades of economic and geopolitical advantages. |
| 这是我们这个时代具决定性意义的竞争之一：能为电动汽车制造电池的国家将享有几十年的经济和地缘政治优势。 |
| The only winner so far is China. |
| 到目前为止，这场竞争的唯一赢家是中国。 |
| Despite billions in Western investment, China is so far ahead — mining rare minerals, training engineers and building huge factories — that the rest of the world may take decades to catch up. |
| 尽管西方国家投了数十亿美元，但由于中国在开采稀有矿物、培训工程师，以及建设大型工厂方面遥遥领先，世界其他国家也许需要几十年的时间才能迎头赶上。 |
| Even by 2030, China will make more than twice as many batteries as every other country combined, according to estimates from Benchmark Minerals, a consulting group. |
| 据咨询集团基准矿业情报公司估计，即使到2030年时，中国的电池产量也将是其他所有国家总和的两倍多。 |
| Here’s how China controls each step of lithium-ion battery production, from getting the raw materials out of the ground to making the cars, and why these advantages are likely to last. |
| 以下是中国如何控制锂离子电池生产的每个步骤，从开采原材料到制造电动汽车，以及为什么这些优势很可能将持续一段时间的原因。 |
| Electric cars use about six times more rare minerals than conventional cars because of the battery, and China gets to decide who gets the minerals first and at what price. |
| 因为需要电池，电动汽车使用的稀有矿物大约是传统汽车的六倍，中国目前决定着谁先获得这些矿物，以及获取的价格。 |
| Although China has few underground deposits of the essential ingredients, it has pursued a long-term strategy to buy its way into a cheap and steady supply. Chinese companies, relying on state assistance, acquired stakes in mining companies on five continents. |
| 尽管中国几乎没有电池所需成分的地下矿藏，但一直在追求一项长期战略，通过购买的方式获得廉价且稳定的供应。中国企业在国家的帮助下在五大洲收购矿业公司的股份。 |
| China owns most of the cobalt mines in Congo, which has the majority of the world’s supply of this scarce material needed for the most common type of battery. American companies failed to keep up and even sold mines to their Chinese counterparts. |
| 中国拥有刚果的大部分钴矿，钴是最常见的电池类型所需的稀缺材料，其全球供应的大部分来自刚果。美国公司未能跟上，甚至将矿山卖给了它们的中国同行。 |
| As a result, China controls 41 percent of the world’s cobalt mining, and the most mining for lithium, which carries a battery’s electric charge. |
| 结果是，中国控制着全球41%的钴矿开采和半数以上的锂矿开采，锂离子是电池中的电荷携带者。 |
| Global supplies of nickel, manganese and graphite are much larger and batteries use only a fraction. But China’s steady supply of these minerals still gives it an advantage. China’s investments in Indonesia will help it become the largest controller of nickel by 2027, according to forecasts by CRU Group, a consulting firm. |
| 虽然镍、锰和石墨的全球供应量要大得多，而且电池只使用其中的一小部分，但中国稳定供应这些矿物的能力仍为其带来优势。据咨询公司CRU集团的预测，中国对印尼的投资将有助于它到2027年时成为镍的最大控制国。 |
| Graphite is mostly mined in China. U.S. producers synthesize graphite at much greater cost. |
| 石墨主要是在中国开采。美国生产商合成石墨，但成本更高。 |
| Western countries also own mines abroad, and are trying to catch up with China. But they have been more reluctant to put money into countries with unstable governments or poor labor practices. And they have been slow to ramp up their own production. |
| 西方国家也在国外拥有矿产，并正在努力追赶中国。但西方国家不太愿意在政府不稳定或缺乏劳工保护的国家投资，而且在提高本国产量上进展缓慢。 |
| A new mine can take more than 20 years to reach full production. Although the United States is investing to tap its significant lithium reserves, the effort has run into a host of local and environmental concerns. |
| 一座新矿需要20多年才能实现全部产能。尽管美国正在投资开发国内丰富的锂储量，但这一努力已遇到许多地方层面和环境方面的担忧。 |
| Regardless of who mines the minerals, nearly everything is shipped to China to be refined into battery-grade materials. |
| 不管这些矿物在哪里开采，它们几乎全部运往中国，在那里提炼成电池级材料。 |
| Once ore is taken from the ground, it is usually pulverized and then treated with heat and chemicals to isolate the mineral compounds. The process is wasteful: Cobalt generates about 860 pounds of waste rock for each pound of refined cobalt powder. |
| 矿石从地下开采出来后通常需要粉碎，然后进行热处理和化学处理，以分离出化合物。这个过程产生很多废料：提炼每公斤钴粉会产生大约860公斤的废渣。 |
| Refining needs huge amounts of energy. Battery minerals require three to four times as much energy to make as steel or copper. The preferred form of lithium, for example, needs to be heated, steamed and dried. Supported by the government with cheap land and energy, Chinese companies have been able to refine minerals at larger volume and lower cost than everyone else. This has caused refineries elsewhere to close. |
| 提炼需要大量能源。提炼电池矿物所需的能量是炼钢或炼铜的三到四倍。例如，获得人们喜欢用的锂形态需要进行加热、蒸发浓缩和干燥处理。由于政府提供廉价土地和能源支持，中国公司可用比其他任何地方都低的成本提炼更多的矿物。这已导致其他地方的提炼厂关门。 |
| Refining also often causes pollution, and Chinese refineries benefit from less stringent environmental regulations. Grinding graphite causes air pollution. Processing nickel generates toxic waste, which must be disposed of in special structures in the ocean or underground. Experts say that using more sustainable methods to process battery minerals drives up costs. |
| 提炼也往往造成污染，中国的提炼厂受益于不那么严格的环境保护法规。研磨石墨产生空气污染。加工镍产生的有毒废料需要在海洋或地下的特殊结构中进行处理。专家表示，使用更可持续的方法来处理制造电池所需的矿物将导致电池成本上升。 |
| Today the United States has little processing capability. A refinery typically takes two to five years to build. Training workers and adjusting equipment can take additional time. Australia’s first lithium refinery, which has some Chinese ownership, was approved in 2016 but failed to produce battery-grade lithium until last year. |
| 美国如今几乎没有处理能力。提炼厂通常需要两到五年的时间才能建成。培训工人和调试设备会需要更长时间。澳大利亚的第一家锂提炼厂（中国拥有部分股份）是2016年获得批准的，但直到去年才生产出电池级的锂。 |
| China became the largest battery producer partly by figuring out how to make battery components efficiently and at lower cost. |
| 中国成为世界最大的电池生产国，部分原因是中国搞清楚了如何高效、低成本地生产电池的组成部分。 |
| The most important component is the cathode, which is the battery’s positive terminal. Of all battery materials, cathodes are the most difficult and energy intensive to make. Until the last several months, the most common cathode used a combination of nickel, cobalt and manganese, also known as NMC cathodes. This formula allows a battery to store a lot of electricity in a small space, providing an electric car with longer range. |
| 最重要的组成部分是阴极，也就是电池的正端。在所有的电池材料中，阴极的制造最难、也最耗能。直到最近几个月，最常见的阴极使用的是镍钴锰酸锂（又名NMC阴极）。该材料组合让电池在更小的空间里储存大量电能，从而为电动汽车提供更长的续航里程。 |
| China has invested in a cheaper alternative that has now taken half the cathode market. Known as LFP, for lithium iron phosphate, these cathodes use widely available iron and phosphate instead of nickel, manganese and cobalt. |
| 中国投资了一种更廉价的替代品，现在已占阴极市场的一半。这种名为磷酸铁锂的阴极用更容易获得的磷酸铁盐取代了镍锰钴酸盐。 |
| For western countries, LFP is an opportunity to bypass bottlenecks in the mineral supply. But China produces almost all the world’s LFP. |
| 对西方国家来说，磷酸铁锂是一个绕过稀有矿产供应瓶颈的机会。但中国目前生产世界上几乎所有的磷酸铁锂。 |
| Today the United States makes only about 1 percent of the world’s cathodes, all of which are NMC. American companies are interested in LFP, but they must team up with Chinese companies that have the experience producing it. |
| 美国如今只生产世界上大约1%的阴极，而且都是镍钴锰酸锂。虽然美国公司对磷酸铁锂感兴趣，但它们需要与有生产经验的中国企业合作。 |
| Chinese companies make most of the battery’s other components. They dominate the production of anodes, the negative end of a battery. China also sells the most separators, a layer that goes between the cathode and anode to prevent short-circuiting. Electrolytes, made of mostly lithium salts and solvent, are needed for conductivity, and the top four electrolyte producers in the world are Chinese. |
| 电池的大部分其他组件也都由中国公司生产，他们还主导着阳极的生产，也就是电池的负端。中国也销售世界上最多的隔膜，隔膜是位于阴极和阳极之间防止短路的部件。导电所需的电解液主要由锂盐和溶剂制成，世界前四大电解液生产商都在中国。 |
| China has the most electric cars on the road and nearly all of them use Chinese-made batteries. In 2015, Beijing enacted policies to block foreign rivals and raise consumer demand. Chinese battery manufacturers like CATL and BYD grew at the expense of their Japanese and South Korean competitors and became the largest in the world. |
| 中国拥有最多的电动汽车，它们几乎全都使用中国制造的电池。中国政府曾在2015年出台了一项阻止外国竞争对手、提高本国消费需求的政策。宁德时代和比亚迪等中国电池制造商得以成长起来，击败了日本和韩国的竞争对手，成为世界上最大的电池制造厂家。 |
| Eight years later, the Biden administration is now pursuing a similar strategy to foster battery development in the United States. |
| 八年后的今天，拜登政府正在推出类似的战略，以促进美国的电池发展。 |
| But in a business with huge capital costs and thin profit margins, Chinese companies have a big head start after years of state funding and experience. |
| 但在这个资本成本巨大、利润率微薄的行业，中国企业有先起步的优势，以及多年来在国家资金支持下获得的经验。 |
| Battery assembly is complex and technical. To make one, cathode and anode materials are attached to thin metal sheets each about one-fifth the thickness of a human hair. These are then stacked with separators, moistened with electrolytes, and rolled up. The entire process needs to take place in rooms that minimize air particles and moisture. |
| 电池的组装很复杂且技术性强。组装一个电池需要将阴极和阳极材料贴附在厚度约为人头发五分之一的薄金属板上。然后用隔膜将阴极板和阳极板隔开后叠在一起，用电解液浸泡，再卷起来。整个过程需要在净化车间里进行，以尽量减少空气中的颗粒物和水分。 |
| China can build battery factories at nearly half the cost of countries in North America or Europe, according to Heiner Heimes, a professor at RWTH Aachen University in Germany. The main reasons: Labor costs are lower, and there are more equipment manufacturers in China. |
| 中国能以比北美或欧洲国家低一半的成本建造电池厂，德国亚琛工业大学教授海纳·海默斯说。主要原因是：中国的劳动力成本更低，而且有更多的设备制造商。 |
| American investors remain wary about putting money into electric vehicles. Traditional cars are still very profitable, American workers need to be trained in new skills, and U.S. government incentives to help the E.V. industry could disappear with the next presidential election cycle. |
| 美国投资者对投资电动汽车行业仍持谨慎态度。传统汽车行业仍有很高的利润，美国工人需要接受新技能的培训，而且，美国政府为帮助电动汽车行业提供的激励措施可能会随着下一个总统大选周期的到来而消失。 |
| China has spent more than $130 billion on research incentives, government contracts and consumer subsidies, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Electric car buyers in China get tax rebates, cheaper vehicle registration, preferential parking and access to an extensive charging network. China’s investments have allowed the country to lead the world in production, equipment and product design. |
| 据战略与国际研究中心的数据，中国已把逾1300亿美元的钱花在鼓励研究、政府合同和消费者补贴上。中国的电动汽车购买者享有退税、更便宜的车辆登记、优先停车位等福利，以及覆盖范围广的充电网络。中国的投资已使国内厂家在生产、设备，以及产品设计方面处于世界领先地位。 |
| Experts say it is next to impossible for any other country to become self-reliant in the battery supply chain, no matter if it has cheaper labor or finds other global partners. Companies anywhere in the world will look to form partnerships with Chinese manufacturers to enter or expand in the industry. |
| 专家们表示，任何其他国家在电池供应链中实现独立自主已几乎不可能，无论是否有更便宜的劳动力、是否能在全球找到其他合作伙伴。世界各地的公司为进入该行业或扩大已有能力都将寻求与中国制造商建立合作伙伴关系。 |
| “There is no way anybody is going to become successful in electric vehicles without having some type of cooperation with China, either directly or indirectly,” said Scott Kennedy, a senior adviser at C.S.I.S. |
| “如果不与中国进行某种形式的合作，无论是直接的还是间接的，任何人都不可能在电动汽车领域取得成功，”战略与国际研究中心的高级顾问斯科特·肯尼迪说。 |
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