You’ve read that right, the Dyson company, who were the pioneers of super-easy vacuuming and super-fast hand and hair drying products, have announced that by 2020 and with the help of their estimated £2 billion investment, they will develop and produce their first fully electric battery powered cars in the UK.
James Dyson, company’s creator, announced the plans to his employees via email, which later appeared on Dyson’s official Twitter account. In it the founder discusses his concerns about the worsening state of air pollution in major cities and talks about his early diesel particle catching invention. However, realising the fault in his early invention, Dyson has decided to tackle the problem at its source and produce an effective alternative to diesel and petrol fuel:
James Dyson just announced to @Dyson employees that we’ve begun work on a battery electric vehicle, due to launch in 2020. pic.twitter.com/yUZNvIsYIi
— Dyson (@Dyson) September 26, 2017
According to multiple sources the plan suggests that half of the investment will go straight to funding the new electric vehicle, while the other half will be put towards the new solid-state battery technology, which will be able to power both EVs and other devices. Dyson has already hired 400 competent employees to work on this new venture and the number is set to rise as the project goes on.
James Dyson revealed to Auto Express that the EV development started about two and a half years ago. However, being weary of already competitive and ever growing alternative-fuel car industry, Dyson decided to keep his plans quiet. Just as stated in his email:
“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.”
Being somewhat eccentric in their approach to product design, we can expect them to produce a unique looking vehicle. Speaking to AE, the company’s founder admitted that they are not planning to produce a sports car, nor a low-end market car. Dyson described his approach to this product as “radical”, but has left it at that and told us that “we’ll have to wait and see.”
Dyson’s pre-existing focus on technology might mean that it will enter the EV market by going along similar lines as Elon Musk’s Tesla. It is certain that we should not be expecting a Nissan Leaf look-a-like to be waiting behind the curtain before its unravelling in 2020. We can expect an all-purpose, modern tech-packed vehicle ready to take on Audi, VW and any other emerging EV manufacturer with fierce confidence.