Some time ago, many companies tried to challenge Tesla by developing their own electric vehicles. British home appliance maker Dyson was among them. After spending £500 million on developing an electric car, the company ultimately decided against producing it, but the project could prove useful to its competitors.
The British company Dyson has abandoned the idea of establishing mass production of an electric car with the code name N526 last year. As its founder, Sir James Dyson, explained in an interview This vehicle would be capable of seating seven people and traveling nearly 960 km on a single charge. This is a record for any passenger electric vehicle, not counting the promising second-generation Tesla Roadster, whose debut is now delayed until 2022.
The secret to Dyson's electric vehicle's exceptional autonomy lies in its proprietary solid-state batteries. Most interestingly, this range had to be achieved in far from "hothouse" conditions—driving in cold weather (by UK standards) with the heater and infotainment system on, at an average speed of over 110 km/h.
The N526 electric car prototype demonstrated by Dyson featured an aluminum body and a curb weight of 2,6 tons. This didn't prevent the prototype from accelerating to 100 km/h in 4,8 seconds and reaching a top speed of 200 km/h. The electric car was planned to be equipped with two 200 kW electric motors. The prototype was not a simple demonstration model; Dyson admitted in an interview that he had test-drove it in a highly confidential environment in a fenced area.
Dyson's founder invested £500 million of his own money into developing the electric vehicle, but its market prospects remained murky. The retail price of a single Dyson electric vehicle would have to exceed $182,000 to break even, and for that kind of money, it's unlikely anyone would want to buy a crossover that, while unusual, wasn't the most impressive in terms of consumer appeal.
Sir Dyson himself isn't giving up on the idea of mass-producing vehicles; he simply wants to do so profitably. The development team is ready to offer the technology for producing solid-state batteries to interested parties. These batteries not only outperform lithium-ion batteries in efficiency but are also much more compact.
Source: 3dnews.ru
