Despite developing an expertise in batteries and electric motors over the years with all the R&D behind its cyclone vacuums, in an email sent to staff today that was shared with The Verge, CEO James Dyson announced his company would abandon its plans for an electric car, citing concerns it couldn’t find a way to make it commercially viable.
Dyson’s electric car aspirations were first announced to the world back in 2017 when James revealed that the company actually had 400 people who had already been working for the previous two-and-a-half years to develop the battery tech that would power the vehicle. At the time, the company had pledged a hefty $2.7 billion to the project with hopes the vehicle could make its debut sometime in 2020. But that timing was slightly adjusted last year when Dyson announced plans for a new electric vehicle manufacturing facility in Singapore that was slated to open in 2021.
According to James Dyson’s email, the company’s engineers had successfully designed its electric vehicle. But throughout the development process, it became clear that there was no way Dyson could get its creation from the design stage to production and into consumers’ garages while still being a profitable venture for the company.
Moving forward, the company will refocus its efforts on other technologies including batteries, vision systems, as well as robotics and AI, and it’s confident the 600 person team that had been working on the electric car will be able to find roles with the company’s other divisions, products, and R&D efforts.