“The most brazen bet in history”: vacuum cleaner manufacturer Dyson will build its own electric car

The British manufacturer of vacuum cleaners and other household electrical appliances Dyson will begin to fulfill the dream of its founder and sole owner Sir James Dyson in Singapore - it is there that the company will build the first factory for the production of Dyson electric cars. Dyson has been dreaming of making electric cars since 1998 and has realized in the last few years that his company not only has all the technology needed to build electric cars, but can potentially equip its cars with the most cost-effective batteries in the world. However, this is in every sense a big bet for Dyson - financially, the company may not pull it.

Details

As Dyson himself says (read more about him and the company here in the project, which he first announced ), he has been “fulfilling the dream” of an electric car since 1998 - and has invested about £ 2 billion ($ 2.6 billion) at the end of last year. . Over the past few years, Dyson, whose fortune is estimated at $9.1 billion by Bloomberg, has realized that his company has all the key technologies for building an electric car, but in a more "miniature version" - for example, his devices also use panoramic cameras and artificial intelligence. and the Dyson engine in one of the vacuum cleaners spins at 125,000 revolutions per minute, about 8 times faster than a Formula 1 car.
Dyson plans to produce three types of electric cars, writes FT. One of them will be mass-produced — by the thousands every month — to drive customer growth and market entry. The car's design and testing is ongoing in the UK, with already spent £200m ($256m) . The company plans to complete construction of the plant in 2020 and release the first car in 2021.
“The final decision on where to build our car was a complex one based on our supply chain and access to other markets,” Dyson CEO Jim Rowan explained in a letter to the company’s employees. According to the Financial Times, Dyson chose between two countries to open a plant - China (the largest market for electric vehicles) and Singapore. As a result, the company decided that the latter, despite the high cost, would be more convenient, as it is located closer to existing production centers and potential customers.
Especially since Dyson already has a manufacturing center in Singapore, Bloomberg notes: the city-state itself is a minor automotive market, but has technology specialists and strong legislation that protects intellectual property. In addition, the country has a free trade agreement with China, the world's largest market for electric cars.

The secret is in batteries

“This £2bn bet — so far the most brazen in Dyson’s history — will either define the brand and outshine other devices, or draw on resources and possibly destroy the company,” the Financial Times wrote about Dyson’s idea . “Perhaps they are right,” commented on the quote to GQ magazine. Dyson himself
The financial condition of the company for the first time allowed Dyson to think about something like this. In recent years, the company has been actively growing: in 2017, Dyson's revenue grew by 40% compared to 2016, a similar growth was a year earlier. However, many experts emphasize that the $2.6 billion investment is just the beginning, and remind Tesla's story: after the launch of the Roadster into space, Tesla reported a record quarterly loss and generally stopped losing money only in the last quarter.
According to Dyson, the main reason he decided to develop an electric car was his rare investment six years ago - the purchase of Sakti 3, which, among other things, attracted funding from General Motors. The company is developing solid-state batteries that are safer and can double the charge of electric vehicles while taking up less space. Dyson is currently working on both solid state and lithium-ion batteries.
However, experts emphasize that solid-state battery technology is still in the experimental stage. Read more about the differences between these batteries and traditional lithium-ion ones here .

Artem Gubenko

“The most brazen bet in history”: vacuum cleaner manufacturer Dyson will build its own electric car

Details

As Dyson himself says (read more about him and the company here in the project, which he first announced ), he has been “fulfilling the dream” of an electric car since 1998 - and has invested about £ 2 billion ($ 2.6 billion) at the end of last year. . Over the past few years, Dyson, whose fortune is estimated at $9.1 billion by Bloomberg, has realized that his company has all the key technologies for building an electric car, but in a more "miniature version" - for example, his devices also use panoramic cameras and artificial intelligence. and the Dyson engine in one of the vacuum cleaners spins at 125,000 revolutions per minute, about 8 times faster than a Formula 1 car.
Dyson plans to produce three types of electric cars, writes FT. One of them will be mass-produced — by the thousands every month — to drive customer growth and market entry. The car's design and testing is ongoing in the UK, with already spent £200m ($256m) . The company plans to complete construction of the plant in 2020 and release the first car in 2021.
“The final decision on where to build our car was a complex one based on our supply chain and access to other markets,” Dyson CEO Jim Rowan explained in a letter to the company’s employees. According to the Financial Times, Dyson chose between two countries to open a plant - China (the largest market for electric vehicles) and Singapore. As a result, the company decided that the latter, despite the high cost, would be more convenient, as it is located closer to existing production centers and potential customers.
Especially since Dyson already has a manufacturing center in Singapore, Bloomberg notes: the city-state itself is a minor automotive market, but has technology specialists and strong legislation that protects intellectual property. In addition, the country has a free trade agreement with China, the world's largest market for electric cars.

The secret is in batteries

“This £2bn bet — so far the most brazen in Dyson’s history — will either define the brand and outshine other devices, or draw on resources and possibly destroy the company,” the Financial Times wrote about Dyson’s idea . “Perhaps they are right,” commented on the quote to GQ magazine. Dyson himself
The financial condition of the company for the first time allowed Dyson to think about something like this. In recent years, the company has been actively growing: in 2017, Dyson's revenue grew by 40% compared to 2016, a similar growth was a year earlier. However, many experts emphasize that the $2.6 billion investment is just the beginning, and remind Tesla's story: after the launch of the Roadster into space, Tesla reported a record quarterly loss and generally stopped losing money only in the last quarter.
According to Dyson, the main reason he decided to develop an electric car was his rare investment six years ago - the purchase of Sakti 3, which, among other things, attracted funding from General Motors. The company is developing solid-state batteries that are safer and can double the charge of electric vehicles while taking up less space. Dyson is currently working on both solid state and lithium-ion batteries.
However, experts emphasize that solid-state battery technology is still in the experimental stage. Read more about the differences between these batteries and traditional lithium-ion ones here .

Artem Gubenko