Electric car charging station [credit: Wikipedia]
It will have to be better than the last British attempt by an inventor, which was classed as a tricycle, but that should be easy enough. A radical design with a solid state battery are among the few clues available so far, but – like other Dyson products – ‘it won’t be cheap’.
Dyson, the engineering company best known for its vacuum cleaners and fans, plans to spend £2bn developing a “radical” electric car, says BBC News.
The battery-powered vehicle is due to be launched in 2020. Dyson says 400 staff have been working on the secret project for the past two years at its headquarters in Malmesbury, Wiltshire.
However, the car does not yet exist, with no prototype built, and a factory site is yet to be chosen.
Sir James declined to give further details of the project. “Competition for new technology in the automotive industry is fierce and we must do everything we can to keep the specifics of our vehicle confidential,” he told staff in an email.
Important points that are undecided or secret include the firm’s expected annual production total, the cost of the car, or its range or top speed. Sir James said about £1bn would be spent on developing the car, with another £1bn on making the battery.
Continued here.
Tallbloke's Talkshop 
Wonder if it’ll use a huge yellow ball to steer around those extra tight corners?
You can rearrange the chemical deckchairs on the good ship ‘Viable Battery’ and still end up with a 100:1 weight ratio compared to fossil fuel.
Only today I drove past a Leaf outside a house in our village on my way to the post. Ten minutes later I returned to see the Leaf being loaded onto a breakdown truck.
I bet they manufacture it in China.
The Dyson vacuum cleaner was and is a premium priced product. I bought one when it was manufactured in the UK, but when they moved production to China and I needed another vacuum cleaner I decided not to buy a Dyson because of their move to China.
We might not be able to compete with bottom rung manufacturing, but there is no reason to manufacture premium priced products in China. Miele for instance manufacture in Germany, as do many others, my AEG washing machine is made in Germany not China.
He seems to have no idea about the lead time to produce a completely new vehicle in a completely new factory with completely new personnel.
I worked for Fords and even with all their expertise 3 years is very optomistic.
ACO – but Fords have engines, gearboxes etc. 😉
Have followed the Dyson saga for many years in the IMechE journal. He succeeded as an engineer and as an innovator.
Plans to spend £2bn developing a “radical” electric car.
Of whose money?
Theirs or the taxpayers.
Dyson has plenty of money 😎
http://phys.org/news/2017-09-dyson-electric-cars.html