We might not know much about the Apple Car, but another tech giant’s automotive efforts have just been outed.
Dyson is currently developing an electric vehicle, a new report reveals.
The company is working on the car at its Wiltshire HQ, and is being partly funded by the government. That means taxpayers are technically paying for it.
The project was revealed in a government report published on Wednesday, although it isn’t clear whether Dyson intended for the information to become public knowledge just yet.
“The government is funding Dyson to develop a new battery electric vehicle at their headquarters in Malmesbury, Wiltshire,” reads the National Infrastructure Delivery Plan, as reported by The Guardian.
It continues: “This will secure £174 million of investment in the area, creating over 500 jobs, mostly in engineering.”
In an interview with the Independent last year, Dyson CEO Max Conze was asked whether the company was developing an electric car, to which he replied: “We are ruling nothing out. Like [Apple], we are also unhealthily obsessive when it comes to taking apart our products to make them better.”
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Dyson is a British technology company best known for its longstanding range of vacuum cleaners. However, the company has also seen success from the production of hand dryers, bladeless fans and heaters.
The company currently retails its products in more than 70 countries, and has a global workforce of 4,500 employees. It was founded 23 years ago, and posted £448 million in profit last year.
It isn’t clear how much money the government has committed to Dyson’s project. Dyson hasn’t made any official announcements about the car.
Would you be a fan of an electric car built by Dyson? Or do you think it would suck? Tell us what you think of our terrible puns in the comments below.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
