Vacuum giant Dyson has announced ambitious plans to enter the electric car market, aiming to launch a battery-powered electric car by 2020.
Sir James Dyson announced in an email to employees his plans to invest a huge £2bn into the electric car project, revealing that 400 employees are already working on the project. The plans have earmarked £1bn of the total investment to be spent on developing the car, with another £1bn spent on developing the battery.
Dyson had previously embarked on car technology involving diesel fuel, but abandoned this over concerns relating to air pollution.
Dyson already has expertise in battery technology.
In the email to all Dyson staff, Sir James said:
“Throughout, it has remained my ambition to find a solution to the global problem of air pollution. Some years ago, observing that automotive firms were not changing their spots, I committed the company to develop new battery technologies. I believe that electrically powered vehicles would solve the vehicle pollution problem.
“Dyson carried on innovating. The latest digital motors and energy storage systems power the Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer and cord-free vacuum line. We’ve relentlessly innovated in fluid dynamics and HVAC systems to build our fans, heaters and purifiers.”
“At this moment, we finally have the opportunity to bring all our technologies together in a single product. Rather than filtering emissions at the exhaust pipe, today we have the ability to solve it at the source,” wrote Sir James.
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Electric powered vehicles have been pitched as the solution to current pollution generated by vehicles, but it seems that Dyson will keep all developments top secret due to the amount of competition out there for the new technology.
Competition in the electric market
Other areas using electric vehicles
The email read: “The project will grow quickly from here, but at this stage we will not release any information. Competition for new technology in the automotive industry is fierce and we must do everything we can to keep the specifics of our vehicle confidential.”
Dyson has already experimented and used innovative battery and energy storage technology with its fancy supersonic hair dryer and desktop fans. Already having this expertise in the battery technology area means Dyson could be the next big competition in the market, going head-to-head with big car manufacturing companies such as Tesla and BMW.
Dyson’s email to employees.
Taavi Madiberk, CEO of Skeleton Technologies, said: “With tech players such as Dyson now entering the electric car market, it is clear that the competition in the sector is reaching new heights and is ripe for disruption.
“Dyson’s move into this market is set to further ignite an already dynamic sector, resulting in wider adoption and interest in EV and alternatively fuelled vehicles. At this point, it is becoming critical that we adopt technology that allows us to smooth over the energy consumption needs that the country is yet to experience.”
“Government, industry bodies and innovators in the sector must work together to support energy storage technologies. By having a stable and reliable energy infrastructure the country is able to benefit from the exciting electric vehicle technologies that industry innovators such as Dyson will bring.”
Electric cars is a growing market, as many companies aim to only distribute electric vehicles by 2020 to run a better efficient vehicle and environment.
