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Monday, October 14th, 2019

Inventor James Dyson shows electric cars are too easy to make. That’s why his US$2.5 billion project was doomed to fail

Author:    
Source:     Bloomberg/South China Morning Post
Publication Date:     10:07am, 11 Oct, 2019
 Link: Inventor James Dyson shows electric cars are too easy to make. That’s why his US$2.5 billion project was doomed to fail
Stephan:   The conversion of car, truck, and bus manufacture from carbon to noncarbon power is not going to be a smooth or easy one.  Here is an example of what I mean. But it is happening. Whether the American vehicle industry survives the transition or plays a leadership role is far from clear, and that means the jobs of hundreds of thousands of men and women are at risk.

The Chinese Xpeng P7 all-electric coupe. Credit: SCMP

The reason it was even conceivable for Dyson Limited to make an electric car may also have been why its project was doomed to fail: They’re simply too easy to make.

The British company, best known for its expensive vacuum cleaners, has now abandoned its £2 billion (US$2.5 billion) plan to branch out and take on the likes of Tesla and Volkswagen.

Whereas cars with a combustion engine need about 30,000 components, an electric vehicle needs just 11,000 parts, according to research from Goldman Sachs. That reduction in complexity has lowered the barriers to entry for the automotive market and caused a surge in the number of new carmakers.

Dozens of start-ups have entered the fray over the […]

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1 Comment

  1. Rev. Dean on Monday, October 14, 2019 at 12:30 pm

    It sounds like the electric cars should be a lot less expensive because of the fewer parts needed to make them. Lets see if that comes true.