James Dyson will not revolutionize the world of cars, and builders will always judge him high. The founder and boss of the group of household appliances announced Thursday in an email to employees of the group that he was putting an end to his project to build an electric car , launched two years ago.
The objective announced at the time was a commercialization of the vehicle in 2020. James Dyson announced to rely on this for a “shock team” of 400 people, with among others skills acquired from Tesla and Aston Martin. He also declared himself “ready to invest 2 billion pounds in the adventure”, and promised a premium positioning. The site to build the plant (Singapore) was chosen last year. The committed research effort had even allowed the first patents in May 2019.
No buyer
Despite this, the leader decided to stop the fees. “The Dyson Automotive team has developed a fantastic vehicle, ingenious in its approach while remaining true to our philosophy,” said James Dyson in the email that “Les Echos” had communication. However, he continues, “despite all our efforts throughout the development process, we simply can not think of any way to make the project viable commercially. The group then looked for a buyer for this project. Without success.
Every effort will be made to reclassify the employees concerned, says James Dyson: “We are actively seeking alternative positions within the company for the maximum number of employees, we have enough vacancies to ensure that most employees a position in our other divisions. For those who can not or do not wish to be on an alternative job, we will provide them with the support and respect they deserve. “
“The road to success is never linear”
To put this setback into perspective, the inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner recalls the difficulties linked to innovation. “The road to success is never linear. This is not the first project that has changed direction and it will not be the last, “he wrote to his colleagues.
And if the project is stopped, some of the technologies linked to it will continue to be developed. James Dyson cites mainly “the development of solid state batteries”, but also “sensors, vision systems, robotics, machine learning and artificial intelligence, which offer important opportunities that we must seize”.