Dyson invests in test tracks for EV programme

The company known for their vacuums is continuing their drive towards producing electric cars, and have set their sights on Hullavington Airfield in Wiltshire to set up a test track for their future vehicles.

For a price of 200 million pounds (220 million euros), Dyson will set up six test driving tracks with a total length of about 17 km. More than 400 employees of the automotive team are already working on the site, which will be expanded by another three buildings in the next months. Dyson’s plan for their EV campus will have 2,000 employees working there before too long. Dyson CEO Jim Rowan said this regarding their plans: “We are now firmly focused on the next stage of our automotive project strengthening our credentials as a global research and development organization.”

So far the renowned vacuum manufacturer has not shown much for their intention to enter the EV market: Neither prototype nor further information regarding the vehicles they plan to produce have been presented. At the start of this year, there had been rumors that three electric vehicles were planned for either 2020 or 2021, and there had been mention that solid-state batteries would be used in two of the vehicles. In an interview, Rowan did admit that the planned cars were aiming at the luxury segment, as well as allowing room for autonomous driving features. He summed up the Dyson plans: “What we’re doing is quite radical.”

Dyson currently employs more than 12,000 employees around the globe, 4,500 of which are engineers and researchers. A road map towards electrified vehicle production reaching over a five year period until 2021 shows a price tag of 2.8 billion euros. The test track in Hullavington is the second research and development centre by the company, although a decision as to where production will take place has not fallen. The UK or a location in Asia are considered likely.

thedrive.com, gq.com, ukinvestormagazine.co.uk, europe.autonews.com