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Transportation Power United Kingdom

Canceled Dyson Electric Car Would've Had a 600-Mile Range Per Charge (digitaltrends.com) 226

Posted by EditorDavid from the long-drives dept.
Remember that electric car project that Dyson finally cancelled in October? It would've had a top speed of 125 miles per hour, going from 0 to 60 in 4.8 seconds, and "would have been able to go 600 miles on a single charge," reports Digital Trends, citing Sir Dyson's new interview with the Sunday Times: In comparison, Tesla's Model S is rated with a 391-mile range, while the Model X, which more closely resembles Dyson's vehicle, is rated with a 351-mile range, according to Tesla's website. The feat would have been made possible through Dyson's solid-state batteries, which would be able to endure "a freezing February night, on the naughty side of 70 mph on the motorway, with the heater on and the radio at full blast" without any decline in performance.

Sir Dyson, who also revealed that the electric SUV's dashboard "floats in front of your face like a hologram," confirmed that he was able to drive a prototype in a screened-off compound. However, each sale of the vehicle would have needed to make at least £150,000, or about $181,000, to break even, a figure that was too high for a company that only had experience in home appliances.
The article points out that Sir Dyson is open to bringing their solid-state battery technology to other carmakers, "so electric vehicles with a 600-mile range is still a possibility in the future."
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Canceled Dyson Electric Car Would've Had a 600-Mile Range Per Charge More

Canceled Dyson Electric Car Would've Had a 600-Mile Range Per Charge

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  • He'd be accused of market manipulation.

    Funny how it works eh?

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Sique ( 173459 )
      As a matter of fact, you can accuse anyone of anything. This doesn't mean something special. It only matters if the SEC indeed follows up the investigation and collects evidence strong enough for a lawsuit, or if a shareholder either of Tesla or a competing company can prove financial damage.

      The whisper in some online forum has nearly null effect.

    • Re:And if Elon made such unsubstantiated claims... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by j.a.mcguire ( 551738 ) on Monday May 18, 2020 @07:15AM (#60073196)
      I would like the call bullshit on the battery claims, maybe it can do 600 miles but maybe it's double the volume and weight. Musk has said if the battery technology exists, show it to them. Tesla are desperate for better battery tech, and a shrewd businessman like Dyson would not miss an opportunity like that, ergo bullshit.
      • Yeah, that's the thing, any number of vendors have claimed at various times that they had a super-whatever only they couldn't get it to market for some reason but look at how great it would have been, the SÃnger Silbervogel being one early example. Then when you look back at it later you see that the reason why it never came to market was that it would have taken another $10 billion in development, or 30 years of research, or the combined resources of three major planets, or changes to the laws of phy

    • Re:And if Elon made such unsubstantiated claims... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by nukenerd ( 172703 ) on Monday May 18, 2020 @07:16AM (#60073200)

      He'd be accused of market manipulation.

      You seem to be assuming that Dyson is universally admired. He isn't. He is an egotistic jerk just like Musk is, and Steve Jobs was. It is true that those guys all have their circles of admirers in which you can see at work the herd instinct to follow a Messiah - they are eerily similar to each other - but those circles don't include everyone.

      • You don't have to Like someone to admire them.
        These guys haven't invented anything new. However I admire them in the way that they were able to take a product the there was a lot of resistance towards, and marketed them in a way to change peoples minds.

        Jobs: Turned the Personal Computer from a Hobby for Engineers, To something that is integrand in modern culture. He then Did it again for the iPod and iPhone, with the iPod having personal MP3 players was a toy for Nerds not for people with interest outsid

        • Re:And if Elon made such unsubstantiated claims... (Score:5, Insightful)

          by SuricouRaven ( 1897204 ) on Monday May 18, 2020 @08:03AM (#60073332)

          Jobs was never really a technical innovator. He was a business leader.

          Dyson did invent one thing: He was able to shrink cyclonic separation. He didn't invent it, but he solved the fluid dynamics task of getting it small enough to fit in a hoover. Again though, his inventive ability was not what made him rich: It was his business ability that let him turn that into millions.

          The unpleasant reality is that inventors seldom get rich, because the skill-set needed to achieve a technological innovation is very different from the skill set needed to profit from it. Very few people have both skill sets, and the willingness to take the risk of launching a business. Dyson is one of those rare exceptions.

          Musk, as Jobs did, advances by paying other people to do the innovation for the company. Those engineers have little chance of earning millions from their work, but they also get a steady paycheck, and don't need to also study business, finance, logistics, marketing, advertising and patent law, or risk their savings paying for a new factory to make a product that might flop.

          Musk also depends on the image of himself as the Inventor Genius as a promotional tool. Edison invented that particular trick. The public love the idea of an inventive genius, but there's less romance in the reality of an R&D division full of nine-to-five engineers.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by clive27 ( 889511 )
            Almost nobody calls them (Jobs and Musk) inventors. We call them visionary. Even if they are genius, they can't achieve all those by themselves. They need tons of support from engineers and scientists (and other supports). Their abilities are about having the correct vision and crazy passion with enough money to support their vision. Oh, and them being really really smart didn't hurt either. They didn't invent all those technologies, but they (especially Musk) UNDERSTOOD them to the bits. My multibillion-do

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by cusco ( 717999 )

            his inventive ability was not what made him rich: It was his business ability

            And the luck of having the same last name as a famous physicist and innovator. When Freeman Dyson died recently even here on SlashDot a lot of posters thought he also invented the cyclonic vacuum.

          • He didn't invent it, but he solved the fluid dynamics task of getting it small enough to fit in a hoover.

            He didn't "solve" it. He trialed and error-ed it because he didn't understand equations that were well understood back in the 40s. He infamously had no idea how the damn thing worked to the point where he bragged that it took him 100 attempts to get it going.

            He had a good idea, but he's quite a crappy engineer and inventor.

            All of his other technical innovations also aren't. Mitsubishi invented the jet hand drier. Toshiba invented the bladeless fan. Dyson somehow got patents for both (though the latter paten

        • And it's not even that good of a vacuum. The one we have has basically shit the bed after 4 years of exposure to dog hair, where the 15 year old Kirby I had before still goes perfectly fine. Both get hair wrapped around the roller brush, but the Dyson requires torx drivers and tiny fingers in order to get it out and then you have to carefully unwrap the pet hair from around the brush. The Kirby has two metal latches that you un-fasten with your thumbs and the roller brush drops out. It's made of solid w

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Pascoea ( 968200 )

            So, let's start with: I own a Dyson (DC51 Animal I believe) and like it. Prior to buying it I had purchased a couple $100 or $200 vacuums that would last a year or less and then either break or shit the bed. I've had my Dyson for 7+ years now. My only complaints about the machine is that it struggles with bigger chunks of stuff or things like screws, and if you're not careful you can spill the canister when emptying it. For pet hair and "normal" debris it works perfectly well.

            As far as unraveling thing

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          Musk made expensive electric cars that made them sexy-ish but not affordable or practical choices for most people.

          Nissan made an affordable EV and proved that you don't need a huge battery for it to be a practical car for many people and many businesses. They also made an electric van which again was affordable and proved that businesses don't need 300 mile batteries for many purposes.

          Nissan also figured out what was needed to make an EV great, rather than just a fossil car with an electric drivetrain. This

          • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

            by jellomizer ( 103300 )

            I would say the Model 3 and Y, as well the future release of the Cybertruck. are in a practical price choice for a lot of people. No longer targeting the 1% but the the top 40% of the population. These cars are competitive against the Likes of BMW, Mercedes, Lexis, Audi and Buick. Its current pricing between 40-60k while is a lot of money, isn't unheard of. Also the Average person can afford a Tesla, if they really want to get one, they may need to make some sacrifices for one, or buy a used model.

            Nissan

          • Comment removed based on user account deletion

        • Jobs: Turned the Personal Computer from a Hobby for Engineers, To something that is integrand in modern culture. He then Did it again for the iPod and iPhone, with the iPod having personal MP3 players was a toy for Nerds not for people with interest outside the technology. the iPhone encouraged that smartphones weren't for only Business but for everyone.

          I agree with you about the iPod and the iPhone/iPad.

          However, Apple computers were only a driver in the artistic space. The C-64 was in more homes than the Apple, later it was PCs. If you are talking about building engineers (vs software engineers), there were way more people using CAD on PCs and Sun workstations than on Apple computers. Where Apple shined was for artists and designers because of the easy to use paint programs, etc.

      • You seem to be assuming that Dyson is universally admired. He isn't.

        We bought one of his hoovers. I mean vacuum cleaners. Very impractical design, and due to that it self destructed quite quickly. Switched to a Shark and my wife couldn't be happier. It has several design features that are _much_ better than the Dyson.

        And we wanted an air filter for the home. Dyson sells one called "cool air". You would think that it produces cool air which would be nice in the summer? It doesn't. Bought one from Philips. Better in every respect. Dyson is just an advertisement company, no

        • More that the few things Dyson invented that really made their products better than the competition are now commonplace in that competition. We all loved the miracle of the bagless vacuum cleaner when it came out, but once the patent expired all the other manufacturers started making them as well - and some of them were a lot better than Dyson's own.

    • Re:And if Elon made such unsubstantiated claims... (Score:5, Informative)

      by misnohmer ( 1636461 ) on Monday May 18, 2020 @07:19AM (#60073216)

      Hey, I bought a Tesla capable of Full Self Driving from Elon in 2016. Elon (and the design studio) said it will drive my family and friends around for free, and while I'm not using it, it will drive for the Tesla Ride Sharing network, making me money - so full Level 5 autonomy, In 2019, Elon redefined Full Self Driving to mean what used to be called Enhanced Autopilot , which is Level 2 driving aids while the driver supervises like a hawk. Not even mentioned of the originally sold FSD on Tesla website, yet no refund for those who paid for it before it was redefined. So yes, Elon makes tons of unsubstantiated claims. Heck, he collect money for them and then doesn't deliver.

      • Either you are lying, stupid or both.

        The state on how well Enhanced Autopilot worked back in 2016 was well known. It was basically autopilot that changed lanes on highways, as that was the features advertised on its website.

        So you are either just lying and you never bought a Tesla and just hating Tesla because you think hating stuff makes you feel smart. Or you are Stupid, to spend a lot of money on a car not based on the official marketing (which you should always be skeptical of), but as of the rambling o

        • Re:And if Elon made such unsubstantiated claims... (Score:5, Informative)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Monday May 18, 2020 @08:35AM (#60073430) Homepage Journal

          The GP is right. Here is the original web page that was selling "Full Self Driving" back in 2016: https://imgur.com/WV2sAcu [imgur.com]

          It says the car will fully drive itself with no action necessary by the driver. It says it will charge itself, you don't even have to plug it in. When you arrive it will go off and park itself with no-one inside.

          Separately Musk made claims about being able to summon the car from the other side of the country. No driver, fully self driving and self charging.

          That's what was sold in 2016 and what they are promising to deliver this year. Given the original plan was for a coast to coast demo in 2017 I'm not expecting that "robotaxi", where you can let your car go out and be a self driving taxi while you are at work and share in the revenue, will launch this year.

          Tesla has been consistently extremely optimistic and extremely wrong about its Full Self Driving capability and timeline. Cars that were supposed to have it back in 2016 will be coming off warranty now.

          • Holy shit! Are you saying Elon Musk... LIED!? Say it isn't so! Lord Elon, save us from those who would tarnish Thy Holy Name!

            We have been all sorts of FSD bullshit for years. The most recent was Elon/Rei hawking the same level 5 robotaxi crap here all last year saying it would be ready for consumers by end of 2019. Not even close. We just got "I stop at every intersection, even green traffic lights".

            True level 5 is at least a decade away and likely longer. I'd guess about 5 years after working fusion

      • Except that none of what you said is actually true.

        "Enhanced Autopilot" is now just the standard for every Tesla shipped, instead of having to buy that as a separate add-on over the top of "adaptive cruise control". Wait, you aren't complaining that what used to be $5000 is now standard equipment, are you?

        The current statement about FSD on their website isn't ambiguous at all about availability:

        All new Tesla cars have the hardware needed in the future for full self-driving in almost all circumstances. The system is designed to be able to conduct short and long distance trips with no action required by the person in the driver’s seat.

        All you will need to do is get in and tell your car where to go. If you don’t say anything, the car will look at your calendar and take you there as the assumed destination or just home if nothing is on the calendar. Your Tesla will figure out the optimal route, navigate urban streets (even without lane markings), manage complex intersections with traffic lights, stop signs and roundabouts, and handle densely packed freeways with cars moving at high speed. When you arrive at your destination, simply step out at the entrance and your car will enter park seek mode, automatically search for a spot and park itself. A tap on your phone summons it back to you.

        The future use of these features without supervision is dependent on achieving reliability far in excess of human drivers as demonstrated by billions of miles of experience, as well as regulatory approval, which may take longer in some jurisdictions. As these self-driving capabilities are introduced, your car will be continuously upgraded through over-the-air software updates.

        They've added the calendar thing. They have the routing thing. Navigate on Autopilot handles traffic, lane chan

    • Re:And if Elon made such unsubstantiated claims... (Score:5, Informative)

      by sdinfoserv ( 1793266 ) on Monday May 18, 2020 @07:59AM (#60073322)
      Except.... Dyson is a private company whereas Tesla is publicly traded. Since the stock of private companies can't be bought or sold by the public, there is no such thing as stock manipulation. Sure, you can go down the "what if he is trying to take it public... bla, bla, bla".. vaporware aside, the here and the now is that Dyson is privately owned.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Junta ( 36770 )

      I mean, have you read the comments? There is plenty of criticism, backlash, and skepticism against Dyson here...

      Yes, people lay into Musk. They do not persecute him in particular, anyone will get hit in his position making his claims. It is just that he is in a position to be the target of such criticism more frequently than most. For better or for worse, anyone who tries to speak enthusiastically to such ambitions across so many industries is going to fall short and take a hit to credibility. On the other

    • And yet Tesla claims they are on the verge of releasing a million-mile solid state battery that is going to revolutionize the market and be way cheaper than a comparable ICE. As soon as they make the batter, that is.

  • Would have, could have, should have (Score:5, Insightful)

    by nospam007 ( 722110 ) * on Monday May 18, 2020 @06:41AM (#60073132)

    Another one for the Tesla-killer cemetery.

  • Insulting naming (Score:5, Informative)

    by Vulch ( 221502 ) on Monday May 18, 2020 @06:43AM (#60073136)

    Sir James, or Sir James Dyson. *NEVER* just title and surname.

    • Insulting to whom?

      • Re: Insulting naming (Score:5, Informative)

        by Sique ( 173459 ) on Monday May 18, 2020 @07:16AM (#60073202) Homepage
        It's the rules for the usage of a UK title. If you call him Sir, do it correctly. Disregarding the rules means disregarding the title and thus disregarding the Queen who bestowed the title, and the land she rules.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by drinkypoo ( 153816 )

          "Disregarding the rules means disregarding the title and thus disregarding the Queen who bestowed the title, and the land she rules."

          Sounds reasonable. Let's all do that.

        • Bollocks to the Queen and Sir Ego. Divine right of power is ridiculous and should be universally condemned, let alone disregarded.

        • Off with his head!

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by Pascoea ( 968200 )

          disregarding the Queen who bestowed the title, and the land she rules.

          We did that already. USA! USA! USA!

        • I'd like to apologize on behalf of my fellow Americans here who seem to be unable to take an informative correction in stride. We may take great pride in the fact that we are no longer subject to the Crown, but that in no way excuses or justifies poor behavior on our part. Polite, informative corrections about others' cultures should always be welcome, even if we have chosen to remove that aspect of another's culture from our own.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ebcdic ( 39948 )
      Why use titles at all? This isn't the 12th century. And if his cars were as reliable as his vacuum cleaners, I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole.

      • We all have titles of some sort.
        Mr. Mrs Dr. Prof.

        They have meaning and come with at least a little prestige.

        Sir. is just another. It has been given because of some very real contribution to the nation.

    • Not Insulting Enough (Score:5, Informative)

      by Roger W Moore ( 538166 ) on Monday May 18, 2020 @07:48AM (#60073284) Journal
      This is the guy who heavily supported Brexit as great for business and then immediately moved his company out of the UK the moment he won. If he finds "Sir Dyson" insulting then that's just fine, if anything it is not insulting enough.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Vulch ( 221502 )

        There is that, but he deserves well crafted insults for that, not careless ones.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Ormy ( 1430821 )

        This is the guy who heavily supported Brexit as great for business and then immediately moved his company out of the UK the moment he won. If he finds "Sir Dyson" insulting then that's just fine, if anything it is not insulting enough.

        As an English national I could not agree with this statement more strongly. Please mod this up.

  • Too bad it never became a reality (Score:3)

    by alantus ( 882150 ) on Monday May 18, 2020 @06:47AM (#60073146)
    This sucks more than my Dyson V7 Fluffy.

  • Yeah, right (Score:5, Informative)

    by clickclickdrone ( 964164 ) on Monday May 18, 2020 @06:47AM (#60073150)
    Dyson the tax dodging, job exporting person who claimed he had a huge government contract for ventilators (he hadn't and they failed the tests anyway). The one who promoted Brexit as great for the UK before moving his firm offshore as soon as they won? That one?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jeremyp ( 130771 )

      Yes, that's the one.

      I don't know what the fuss is about. The electric car that I designed had a range of 1,200 miles, could do 0-60 in 1.5 seconds and level 5 autonomy and would also suck you off if it was stationary.

      You can make any claims you like about something that doesn't exist.

    • Re:Yeah, right (Score:5, Informative)

      by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) on Monday May 18, 2020 @07:55AM (#60073310)

      No not that one. We're talking about Dyson the person who claimed to have invented bagless vacuums by copying and scaling down the one that he had in the corner of his shop, proceeded to make 100 different types because he didn't know the formula for material separation in a cyclone, and then patented it. We're talking about the one who copied a hand dryer design from Mitsubishi and then patented it, and the one who copied a bladeless fan from Toshiba and then had 3 attempts at patenting it before the patent office finally stopped rejecting it as similar to Toshiba's previous invention (for which the patent had expired).

      That's the Dyson we are talking about.

      It's a shame his company makes good vacuum cleaners.

      • It's a shame his company makes good vacuum cleaners.

        I disagree with this statement. They make overpriced mediocre vacuum cleaners with big brand recognition. There are better to be had for the same price, and some that are far superior for not that much more money.

  • this 7 seater monstrous is not that 99% of the working people are looking for, too huge, too expensive, ... it's not that the average family has 5 kids either. If they just made an affordable mid-sized family car, ... But no, reality distortion field "inventions" very few asked for, ...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by hattig ( 47930 )

      Need (logic) vs Need (feelings)

      Certainly very few families need a 7 seater vehicle these days - the usual 5 seater arrangement is more than enough for the 1.9 children and the rare guest they might carry.

      The issue is that they feel they need a large vehicle to protect the inhabitants (despite the result being larger, fatter vehicles killing more pedestrians).

      Certainly the planet Vulcan would have been full of Mini / Fiat 500 / VW Golf sized cars at this period of its development, rather than large SUVs.

      It s

      • I hate to be the Star Trek nerd but (fictional) Vulcan was a bloody place until well into their space age.

        At this point in their development they'd be killing each other as fast and viciously as possible.

        Carry on!

    • The 7 Seater is usually for a family with 3 kids. Car seats take up a lot of space, and are rigid. So the middle seats are useless, where adults/teens can normally squeeze themselves in the seats, as their bodies are more squishy.

  • Oh, uh-huh. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by jdharm ( 1667825 ) on Monday May 18, 2020 @07:10AM (#60073188)
    I was developing a car project that has since been cancelled that boasted 2,500mi range with a suitcase sized battery that only took 120 seconds to charge using a hand cranked generator and was made of 100% recyclable and compostable food-grade materials.

    See? Anybody can say words.

  • Until Sir Dyson actually delivers such a car in volume, and it survives real customer use, it's pure speculation. It could have had 1000 mile range too. So what?

    As for batteries, my Dyson vacuum batteries lasted about 2-3 years before needing a new one. My oldest Tesla is 5 years old and battery still going strong. So, Sir Dyson, deliver those wonderful batteries to your vacuum product to prove to us they really last, or would that car have a 600 mile range on delivery day only, then need a new $100K batter

    • Cars have a larger factor. So batteries get cooling options, That is often why our cellphones and other electric parts die out so quickly. It because the heat in charging take a lot more out of each charge.

  • Wait, so they made the entire car before realizing it would cost too much to earn money on, by a large margin? How could they not have estimated it would be prohibitively expensive before building? This seems more likely that it's all a ploy to get market excitement about their solid state batteries, rather than an honest attempt to make an electric car.

    If they were a small business (which they're not) and I were a VC I'd be expecting them to have some estimate of cost before going through the probably ma

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Junta ( 36770 )

      Not only that, but their strategy when they realize the car as originally envisioned costs too much, and they just give up instead of changing the expensive design points for now?

      For example, if the claimed battery tech were real, but too expensive, wouldn't they have swapped that out for a more traditional, feasible battery?

      If the battery were the only thing you thought you had, then why do a whole car as anything other than a demonstrator platform and focus instead on selling to all the auto makers that r

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

      Prototypes are always hideously expensive. Solid state batteries are a real thing, although nobody has yet made them work well outside the lab. "Work well outside the lab" includes coming up with a method to manufacture them for a reasonable cost. It's likely Dyson built a prototype car, complete with prototype batteries, but couldn't figure out how to bring down the battery manufacturing costs enough to make it practical.

      • Someone at Dyson did enough work to estimate best case cost scenario:

        However, each sale of the vehicle would have needed to make at least £150,000, or about $181,000, to break even . ..

        Like many projects, yeah it’s technically possible but not economically feasible.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

          Sure, but that's the estimate for what their batteries cost now, or what they expect they can get the cost to in the near future.

          Audi says they're planning to introduce a solid state battery EV in the mid 2020s, and Toyota says they'll unveil a concept at the 2020 olympics. Most of the big battery manufacturers, including Samsung and Panasonic, are working on solid state batteries. I expect the battery development was taking longer than Dyson expected, and/or they realized they were outgunned by bigger comp

          • It seems like multiple companies are trying to do the same thing. They may come to the same conclusion as Dyson: it’s too expensive to be economically feasible in a car. However those companies may have more money and time to research solid battery technology to lower the cost of using them as it would help out their products tremendously. But bear in mind, Samsung and Panasonic are not researching it for use in cars but electronics which may be a different focus of research.
    • It seems like a rookie mistake for a seasoned manufacturer. Many startups also have great ideas but realize too late that practical considerations make their ideas not feasible. But then again big companies spend big money on failed projects all the time.

  • Traditionally, he is best known as the inventor of the Dual Cyclone bagless vacuum cleaner, which works on the principle of cyclonic separation.

    Technically it works on the principle of "Wow! You can see a little tornado! We should buy this!"

    Someone should invent disposable vacuum bags some day so you can just throw them out when full and not make a freaking mess.

  • that doesn't exist? Shouldn't that have said Dyson's vehicle would have resembled the X, not the other way around?

  • ... would have used deuterium fusion to cruise from New York to LA at 300 MPH on one pint of sea water.

    I'm just running a little behind schedule this week due to the coronavirus lockdown, that's all.

  • My cancelled EV design has a range of 4000 miles, and can recharge in 12 minutes from a standard 120V outlet.

    It was cancelled due to various differences of opinion with the engineering team.

  • Couldn't deliver on his vaporware (Score:4, Funny)

    by OneHundredAndTen ( 1523865 ) on Monday May 18, 2020 @08:17AM (#60073388)
    No wonder his products have a reputation for sucking big time.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Elon Musk has asked numerous time to see it. Dyson has declined. I suspect if it existed Dyson would be knocking on Musks door with a warhammer trying to sell it to them. Musk would buy them in a NY minute just to get that tech alone.

  • Let's remember... (Score:3)

    by argStyopa ( 232550 ) on Monday May 18, 2020 @10:13AM (#60073746) Journal

    ....that these performance claims come courtesy of Dyson's wholly-owned subsidiary Sakti (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/secretive-company-claims-battery-breakthrough/) who back in 2014 was described as "...Most of the technical details remain secret. The energy-density claims have yet to be independently verified..."

    Since they've claimed this since 2014 and I haven't noticed any astonishing new breakthroughs or "the Sakti battery revolution"...I'm going to call them outright bullshit until I see otherwise.

    Oh yeah...the 'rest of the story'....:
    2017: Dyson walks from Sakti3 battery patents https://www.greencarreports.co... [greencarreports.com]

    Later in 2017: Battery exec leaves Dyson two years after $90 million buyout
    https://www.axios.com/dyson-15... [axios.com]

    2018: Dyson Dumps Solid State Battery Developer
    https://insideevs.com/news/339... [insideevs.com]

    2018: Dyson writes off 46m (GBP) in Battery Startup https://www.electrive.com/2018... [electrive.com]

    So...yeah: is bullshit. Was always bullshit. Never existed - my guess is their prototype he claimed to drive was using current battery tech and had about 200mile range or something unoptimized.

  • The electric car I'm not building gets 12 parsecs per charge.

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