INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightGetty ImagesDyson, the UK-based company best known for its vacuum cleaners, has scrapped a project to build electric cars.The
firm, headed by inventor Sir James Dyson, said its engineers had developed a "fantastic electric car" but that it would not hit the roads
because it was not "commercially viable".In an email sent to all employees, Sir James said the company had unsuccessfully tried to find a
electric vehicle, a project it launched in 2016
It said the car would not be aimed at the mass market.Half of the funds would go towards building the car, half towards developing electric
batteries.In October 2018 Dyson revealed plans to build the car at a new plant in Singapore
It was expected to be completed next year with the first vehicles due to roll off the production line in 2021.Dyson wanted to make something
revolutionary - but also needed to make it pay
And the sums simply didn't add up.Sales of electric cars are climbing rapidly
Yet they still cost more to make than conventional cars, and generate much lower profits - if any.Major manufacturers like VW can afford to
plough tens of billions into the EV industry - on the basis that economies of scale will ultimately make the technology cheaper and generate
returns.Even the upstart Tesla, widely credited with showing everyone else just how good electric cars could be, has burnt through mountains
of cash and had to go cap in hand to investors
Dyson has concluded it simply can't afford to play with the big boys - although its efforts to make a quantum leap in battery technology
Much of that money has already been spent and Dyson said it would use the site for other projects.The rest of the funds intended for the
electric car project would still be spent on developing other products, including its battery technology, Dyson said.The first cars had
already been developed and were being tested.But in an email on Thursday, Sir James revealed that Dyson was closing electric car facilities
both in the UK and Singapore.The project employed 523 people, 500 of whom were in UK, and Sir James praised their "immense"
achievements."This is not a product failure, or a failure of the team, for whom this news will be hard to hear and digest," Sir James
wrote.Image copyrightDysonImage caption
A Dyson patent diagram from 2019
But, he said: "We have tried
very hard throughout the development process, we simply can no longer see a way to make it commercially viable.""The Dyson automotive team
has developed a fantastic car; they have been ingenious in their approach while remaining faithful to our philosophies."He said the firm was
trying to find alternative roles for the workers in its home division, which makes things such as vacuum cleaners, fans and hairdryers.Sir
James said Dyson would continue to work on the battery technology, which was used in the car."Our battery will benefit Dyson in a profound
way and take us in exciting new directions.""In summary, our investment appetite is undiminished and we will continue to deepen our roots in
both the UK and Singapore," he said."This is not the first project which has changed direction and it will not be the last."
