Dyson abandons electric car program over lack of commercial feasibility

[Shawn Knight]

Bottom line: Ever the optimist, Dyson said it wasn’t a product failure or a failure of the team. Given the enormity and complexity of the project, “their achievements have been immense.” The chief engineer said they are working to find new roles for the displaced employees within the company. Those who don’t take on alternate roles will be supported “fairly and with the respect deserved,” Dyson said.

British vacuum maker Dyson on Thursday revealed intentions to cancel its electric vehicle project.

In announcing the decision, company founder and chief engineer James Dyson said that although they tried very hard throughout the development process, it simply isn’t commercially viable. Worse yet, they have thus far been unable to find a buyer for the project.

Dyson announced intentions to get into the electric car business in 2017. Through a series of interviews a few months later, it was revealed that they would take a three-pronged approach with the first vehicle being used to establish a supply chain, identify potential customers and so on. Unfortunately, we may never see Dyson’s vision of an electric vehicle.

As for the $2.5 billion Dyson set aside for the project, those funds will now be diverted to other projects including the “formidable” task of manufacturing solid state batteries. Dyson, if recall, purchased battery startup Sakti3 in October 2015 and has been experimenting with building batteries that use ceramics. It’s a project that Dyson said will have a profound impact on the company and take them in new directions.

Other areas of interest for the company include machine learning and AI, robots, vision systems and sensing technologies.

“Our investment appetite is undiminished and we will continue to deepen our roots in both the UK and Singapore,” Dyson added.

Masthead credit: Dyson headquarters by JPstock

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https://www.techspot.com/news/82290-dyson-abandons-electric-car-program-over-lack-commercial.html

 

[Squid Surprise]

Well... as they say in the vacuum business... that sucks!

 

[Uncle Al]

At least he's got a good target now ..... build a better battery and you'll have ALL the electric device makers at your door with blank checks, begging you to fill in the amount you want .....

 

[wiyosaya]

IMO, Dyson is yet another Bose or Sonos - a marketing man who sold vacuums (whether they are good or not) based on the bling factor. (Personally, I bought a Nilfisk vacuum with an ULPA filter, and I'll never, ever need another.) He probably learned the hard way that bling factor is an unnecessary factor in the engineering required for a great EV.

Maybe, just maybe if he can keep his bling factor out of the battery research and leave the people he hired alone so that they are able to do their jobs, the battery company he now owns will make a better battery. There is a lot of research on battery tech going on, and I am not that confident his battery ambitions will come to fruition.

 

[VitalyT]

Unfortunately, we may never see Dyson’s vision of an electric vehicle.

I think we already have, and that is why it ain't happening

 

[umbala]

"it simply isn’t commercially viable." Yeah, what they mean is that there's no way for them to charge the exorbitant premium for the Dyson name and still find people stupid enough to buy their cars. It's the same reason Apple will never release an electric car either.

Dyson vacuums are garbage by the way. They tout German engineering, yet all their products are made in China using cheap materials in order to maximize profits.