Dyson to launch an electric vehicle by 2020

In an email to company employees, founder James Dyson said the move to an electric vehicle has been prompted by a desire ‘to find a solution to the global problem of air pollution’ and that the technologies underpinning the company’s products could now be employed in an EV.

‘At this moment, we finally have the opportunity to bring all our technologies together into a single product,’ he said in his missive.

To this end, over 400 Dyson engineers and ‘talented individuals from the automotive industry’ are taking part in the £2bn project, which is 'recruiting aggressively' for new team members.

‘The project will grow quickly from here but at this stage we will not release any information,’ said Dyson. ‘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.’

Commenting on the announcement from Dyson, Taavi Madiberk, CEO of Skeleton Technologies, a company that develops graphene-based ultracapacitors and energy-storage systems, 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.”

“A bit like Elon Musk, James Dyson is an inspirational pillar of creative engineering,” added Ray Chohan, SVP, corporate strategy at PatSnap. “With this huge amount of investment being made into creating an electric car, alongside the wealth of battery and motor technology within Dyson’s intellectual property portfolio, we should be very excited to see what comes of his promise.”

https://www.theengineer.co.uk/should-businesses-be-revving-up-for-an-ev-revolution/