Leaked Documents Reveal that Dyson is Working on an Electric car
In March of this year, The Guardian reported that Dyson were quietly working on an electric car. The newspaper came across UK government documents that the public were not meant to dwell over. Naturally, it published every word in the document, entitled the ‘National Infrastructure Delivery Plan’.
The document disclosed:
“The government is funding Dyson to develop a new battery electric vehicle at their headquarters in Malmesbury, Wiltshire. This will secure £174m of investment in the area, creating over 500 jobs, mostly in engineering.”
This part of the document has since been removed but Dyson did not deny they were building an electric car when questioned by The Guardian.
Dyson’s Battery Advantage
This is all ties in with the fact that recently Dyson bought battery specialists Sakti3. The company claims it can build a solid state battery with ceramic electrolytes that reach the 300 wh/kg mark. This is significant because according to Donald Sadloway of MIT, should energy densities reach 350 wh/kg, electric vehicles could travel 350 miles on one charge. This would spell the end of the petrol driven car.
Right now Tesla leads the way in electric vehicle development. In May this year pre-orders for the Model 3 far exceeded expectations. The company received 276,000 in just three days. According to Gizmodo.co.uk, Tesla expected pre-orders around the 55,000 mark.
The official range of the 2012 Model S is 265 miles, not quite up to the 350 mile target.
The downside to electric cars is the range. This may well change should Dyson achieve the so far elusive 350 mile range on one charge.
Dyson has consistently demonstrated innovation with the developments of electrical products, using innovative ways to produce arguably the best versions of their product range. If they can build-in the same innovation into electric vehicles, we may just witness a revolution in the automobile industry.
Hopefully, Dyson’s cars will self hoover as well.
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