Dyson, the technology company best known for its vacuum cleaners, has scrapped a project to build electric cars. The firm, headed by British inventor Sir James Dyson, said its engineers had developed a “fantastic electric car” but that it would not hit the roads because it was not “commercially viable”.
In an email sent to all employees, Sir James said the company had unsuccessfully tried to find a buyer for the project. The division employs 500 UK workers.
Dyson had planned to invest more than £2bn in developing a “radical and different” electric vehicle, a project it launched in 2016. It said the car would not be aimed at the mass market.
Half of the funds would go towards building the car, half towards developing electric batteries. In October 2018 Dyson revealed plans to build the car at a new plant in Singapore. It was expected to be completed next year, with the first vehicles due to roll off the production line in 2021.
Dyson wanted to make something revolutionary – but also needed to make it pay. And the sums simply didn’t add up. Sales of electric cars are climbing rapidly. Yet they still cost more to make than conventional cars, and generate much lower profits – if any.
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