Under The Angsana Tree: Dyson kills Singapore electric car project

With closure of auto division

"Though we have tried very hard throughout the development process, we simply can no longer see a way to make it commercially viable. We have been through a serious process to find a buyer for the project which has, unfortunately, been unsuccessful so far," says Mr Dyson. PHOTO: DYSON

HOME appliance giant Dyson has scrapped its entire automotive division, including its plan for an electric car plant in Singapore, the British firm announced on Thursday. Founder James Dyson said the UK company is shutting the division due to a lack of commercial feasibility. Dyson had made its patents for its electric car public in May.

"Though we have tried very hard throughout the development process, we simply can no longer see a way to make it commercially viable. We have been through a serious process to find a buyer for the project which has, unfortunately, been unsuccessful so far," he said in an email to staff on Thursday.

In October 2018, the firm - best known for its bagless vacuum cleaners - said it will manufacture its electric cars at a two-storey facility in Singapore, targeting to roll out the first car in 2021. Subsequently, in January this year, Dyson announced it was moving its headquarters from the UK to Singapore.

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Dyson just killed its ‘ingenious’ electric car. CEO’s email to staff explaining why

Despite unveiling its plans for a Singapore-made electric car to great fanfare last year, British electronics company Dyson has abruptly cancelled the project, despite already filing a patent, hiring staff, and promising a 2021 launch.

CEO James Dyson announced plans to close the firm’s entire automotive division in a company-wide email on Thursday (Oct 10).

Calling the car’s design “fantastic” and “ingenious”, Dyson said the project was unfortunately not commercially viable, and no buyers wanted to take over.

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Dyson scrapped their electric vehicle plans: Here’s why

In 2017, Sir James Dyson of the well-known Dyson Vacuum Company launched a project to produce an electric car. But recently, the company has unfortunately decided to scrap the project after determining that it was “not commercially viable.”

Dyson and its engineers had developed a “fantastic electric car” according to the company’s founder, but the £2.5 billion project that employs 523 people has failed to attract a buyer that would help develop the future vehicles.

Dyson was evidently committed to the project, seeing that they poured an extraordinary amount of money into in order to produce a sustainable vehicle. They also planned to open a plant in Singapore that would be finished in 2020 and would produce the first vehicles available for purchase in 2021.

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Inventor James Dyson shows electric cars are too easy to make. That’s why his US$2.5 billion project was doomed to fail

Whereas cars with a combustion engine need about 30,000 components, an electric vehicle needs just 11,000 parts, according to Goldman Sachs

The reason it was even conceivable for Dyson Limited to make an electric car may also have been why its project was doomed to fail: They’re simply too easy to make.

The British company, best known for its expensive vacuum cleaners, has now abandoned its £2 billion (US$2.5 billion) plan to branch out and take on the likes of Tesla and Volkswagen.

Whereas cars with a combustion engine need about 30,000 components, an electric vehicle needs just 11,000 parts, according to research from Goldman Sachs. That reduction in complexity has lowered the barriers to entry for the automotive market and caused a surge in the number of new carmakers.

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James Dyson Shows It's Too Easy to Make Electric Cars

The reason it was even conceivable for Dyson Ltd. to make an electric car may also have been why its project was doomed to fail: They’re simply too easy to make. The British company, best known for its expensive vacuum cleaners, has now abandoned its 2 billion-pound ($2.5 billion) plan to branch out and take on the likes of Tesla Inc. and Volkswagen AG.

Whereas cars with a combustion engine need about 30,000 components, an electric vehicle needs just 11,000 parts, according to research from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. That reduction in complexity has lowered the barriers to entry for the automotive market, and caused a surge in the number of new carmakers.

Dozens of startups have entered the fray over the past few years, from Tesla and Lucid Motors Inc. in the U.S., to Byton Ltd. and NIO Inc. in China. Since 2011, electric vehicle startups have raised $18 billion in funding, and announced 43 models and the capacity to make 3.9 million vehicles a year, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. That’s a lot of competition.

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Dyson Becomes Latest Sign That Electric-Car Bubble Is Bursting

Dyson Ltd.’s sudden decision to scrap its $2.5 billion electric-vehicle ambitions is the latest reality check creeping into the once soaring EV industry.

The famed maker of vacuum cleaners and hair dryers couldn’t find a way of making the project commercially viable, billionaire James Dyson said in a letter to staff Thursday. The announcement came about two years after the company first disclosed its plans to jump into car manufacturing.

Dyson represents one of the most high-profile players to pull out of a sector that’s attracted hundreds of start-ups in recent years seeking to become the next Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Inc. But there are mounting signs that the bubble is bursting as China scales back handouts in the sector and competition heats up. Sanford C. Bernstein estimates that global EV sales fell for the first time ever in July and dropped by a record 23% in August.

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Dyson’s axing of electric car project a setback to S’pore’s green transport push

Household appliance manufacturer Dyson’s decision to scrap its electric car project here due to a lack of commercial feasibility is a setback to Singapore’s vision to adopt a cleaner motoring system, experts told TODAY.

They noted that turning a profit in the electric vehicle (EV) industry is tough even for big players such as Tesla, and suggest that Dyson faced a significant hurdle of needing a network of charging stations in Singapore.

Dyson’s move, announced on Thursday (Oct 10), came barely a year after the British technology company announced that it would launch its ambitious automotive project - which dovetailed with Singapore’s push to create a greener, more sustainable city.

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Why did Dyson pick S'pore to build its electric car? Here're some possible reasons

When James Dyson, the billionaire British inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner, unveiled a plan to build an electric car plant in Singapore, it raised a few eyebrows.

Not only does the land-starved city state have some of the highest average salaries in the world, but it has been nearly 40 years since Ford closed its factory in Singapore, effectively ending car production on the Southeast Asian island.

“It is a bit of a surprise because of the cost base and no other car manufacturing plant being here,” said Shantanu Majumdar, a regional director at consultancy JD Power. Here’s a look at some of the less obvious pros and cons:

* High Costs vs Generous Incentives
* Small Market vs China Gateway
* Familiarity vs New Frontier

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16/10/2019

Dyson kills Singapore electric car project