Dyson scraps plans to build electric vehicle

Dyson is an engineering company best known for it's innovative consumer products like vacuums and hair-care products When you look at "legacy" industries, sometimes an outsider's take on things can be refreshing and just what the target industry needs. Tesla is a perfect example with it's leading edge products that are years ahead of the competition in most categories.. Even Tesla's product-building solutions are seemingly years ahead in terms of construction and use of automation (aka robots). But Engineer Dyson saw a problem with automotive air pollution and set about developing an EV of his own. With Dyson's typical innovation and style, you can see the fruits of Dyson's labors above. An attractive vehicle (SUV) that would look good in any high-end garage or out on the motorways. The problem came when the car was built, and the vehicle's pricing was considered too high (almost $200,000) for profitable continuing production. (Remember that many carmakers offset losses on new and higher-end products with the profits from their higher-volume vehicles. It has been reported that legacy US automakers get profits from trucks well into the five-figure range. And no, you can't take that info and get a better deal at your dealer since these profits are built into the sale between the manufacturer and the dealer. Your price is determined by what the dealer pays for the vehicle.) The sad part is that when Dyson decided to stop further development, all of their hard work went for naught. Dyson's EV has a dedicated platform that could carry many different body styles. Dyson developed a new, bespoke, efficient electric motor and battery packs that would propel the EV. Considerable thought went into making the interior a fine (and comfortable) place to be. Most automakers have come to develop their vehicles from the stand point of cost and profit and not from a place of excellence. The Dyson EV seems to be an "excellent" SUV. Dyson has even offered the whole one-billion dollar program for sale, but so far no takers. Part of that I'm sure is ego on the part of folks from the legacy automakers (We can do it. We don't need their stuff.) Secondly, I'm sure that Dyson would like to recoup some of this investment so there might be a deal to be made. I could see the name Rolls-Royce, Bentley, of Range Rover on the hood of this car. The pricing is inline with their other offerings and Dyson's vehicle looks ready to go and would need only minor tweaking. But then again, ego is probably at play here since those brands are owned by much larger automakers. But Jaguar/Land Rover's Jaguar e-Pace is kinda behind in development compared to the EV leaders and Dyson's EV would certainly get them into the race, so to speak. Interesting... Check out the press releases (more like open letters from Dyson), pics, and video after the "read more" jump.

Source: Press releases, video, and pics courtesy of Dyson (Automotive)