Sir James Dyson Scraps Electric Car Project

Billionaire Sir James Dyson has scrapped plans to build electric cars after telling staff it is not “commercially viable.”

The letter sent to the firm’s 500 staff confirmed that Dyson, known globally for its vacuum cleaners, would “close the automotive project and redouble efforts in our exciting programme of other technology developments.”

Dyson added: “Our automotive team have developed a fantastic electric car, but unfortunately it is not commercially viable.”

The letter confirms that Dyson had failed to find a buyer for the project, and said, “This is not a product failure, or a failure of the team, for whom this news will be hard to hear and digest.”

Dyson had announced in 2018 that the electric car would be produced in Singapore, with the launch of the car expected in 2021. American, Chinese and Japanese firms have dominated the market for the fast-growing market, and Dyson’s move will be viewed as a blow to British business.

Job losses have yet to be confirmed, but Dyson confirmed that the board is working to find alternative roles within Dyson for as many of the team as possible and will continue its $3.09 billion (£2.5 billion) investment program into new technology.

Failed move

In July this year Dyson spent a reported $54.24 million on Singapore’s most expensive penthouse in a further sign that the inventor and entrepreneur was set to move more of his electric car business activity overseas.

Local media reports that Sir James and his wife are the buyers of the “super penthouse” at Guoco Tower, “a world-class vertical city” and Singapore’s tallest building.

A Dyson spokesman confirmed to Forbes: “Given the decision to locate the headquarters in Singapore and the growing focus of the company’s business in the region, of course James Dyson has bought a property there.”

In October 2018 Dyson, most famous for its bagless vacuums and hand dryers, announced its decision to build its highly anticipated electric car in Singapore.

With the first cars set to roll off the production line in 2021, Dyson said his decision was based on the availability of engineering talent and the city’s proximity to its target markets, namely China.

However the move raised eyebrows in the U.K., with James Dyson among a number of British billionaires to publicly support Brexit.

In 2017 Sir James told the BBC that a no-deal Brexit scenario would “hurt the Europeans more than the British.” 

On the uncertainty surrounding Britain’s departure from the EU he said: “I think uncertainty is an opportunity, and the opportunity here is actually that the rest of the world is growing at a far greater rate than Europe, so the opportunity is to export to the rest of the world and to capitalise on that.”