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Dyson has scrapped its electric car project

bbc.com

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Re: Dyson has scrapped its electric car project

#121

Post by maccard »

djaychela wrote: post #23

I'm surprised at this - seems bizarre that it's a 'great product' but isn't commercially viable in any way? As an aside, I really can't understand why people are so enthusiastic about Dyson products - I find them to be poor to use and poor performers. My gf has a dyson vacuum cleaner (a v6, I think), and it's terrible. Battery life is minimal, the suction is poor compared to anything I've used in the past, all the no…

I bought a dyson V6 refurb on ebay from the dyson store for roughly the same cost as a branded upright vacuum. I live in a 550 sq ft apartment, space is a premium. It's compact (Hangs on a wall in a cupboard, taking up a space that we wouldn't use anything else for, rather than a large part of one of our other small cupboards) - the battery life is about 20 minutes, which is enough time to clean my entire apartment in one go, it fits under all my furniture, hoovers up our pet hair.

What more could I ask for?

Re: Dyson has scrapped its electric car project

#123

Post by twic »

numbers wrote: post #70

I have 4 Dyson products, besides the hair-dryer, all of the others are bad (can't say they suck b/c that's the main job of 2 of the vacuums and they can't get it done). I bought the dyson air purifier that's cold and hot, it's so bad...works at the same level as a USB fan... The vacuums are loud and look futuristic but can't clean anything properly. Any recommendations for a good vacuum are welcome!

When i wanted a new vacuum cleaner, i asked my cleaner. After all, she spends a substantial fraction of her working life using them. She recommended a Numatic Henry, so that's what i got. It's ugly, it's loud, but it's built like a tank and it could suck the bricks out of a wall.

Re: Dyson has scrapped its electric car project

#124

Post by agumonkey »

soup10 wrote: post #100
xivzgrev wrote: post #66

Why do companies keep thinking they can build a fucking car? Yes Tesla did it but it was a company 100% dedicated to it. Dyson has a core business already. I’m also skeptical about Apple but at least they have one of the largest treasure chests in the world of cash so they can more afford a moon shot.

Lots of small teams make prototype/custom cars. The harder part is scaling up production to make thousands.

I think that the difficult part was the belief. I'd bet a thousand that Musk and others have clear ideas on how to automate car manufacturing a good 10x more now. Tesla went back to manual labour due to market / investor constraints. But electronics like assembly is not out of sight.

Re: Dyson has scrapped its electric car project

#125

Post by bvm »

numbers wrote: post #70

I have 4 Dyson products, besides the hair-dryer, all of the others are bad (can't say they suck b/c that's the main job of 2 of the vacuums and they can't get it done). I bought the dyson air purifier that's cold and hot, it's so bad...works at the same level as a USB fan... The vacuums are loud and look futuristic but can't clean anything properly. Any recommendations for a good vacuum are welcome!

(not sure where you're based but...) a Henry! https://www.numatic.co.uk/products.aspx?r=4&sr=1 They're cheap, they're reliable, you can use them bagged or bagless, they're basically indestructible (our chimney sweep uses a bog standard one for the actual sweeping), if anything does break you can easily repair them, they are really very good at vacuuming. Excellent product, would buy again, if I ever had to.

Re: Dyson has scrapped its electric car project

#126

Post by trenning »

xivzgrev wrote: post #66

Why do companies keep thinking they can build a fucking car? Yes Tesla did it but it was a company 100% dedicated to it. Dyson has a core business already. I’m also skeptical about Apple but at least they have one of the largest treasure chests in the world of cash so they can more afford a moon shot.

Apple showed interest in buying McLaren a few years ago. I wonder if they approached any other small car manufacturers. At the very least it shows they had interest in bringing in outside talent and knowledge instead of doing it all solo. Maybe something has evolved in the background without press since then.

https://www.autoblog.com/2016/11/21/mclaren-ceo-apple-takeov...

Re: Dyson has scrapped its electric car project

#127

Post by twic »

janc_ wrote: post #55
Doctor_Fegg wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peugeot

And there are/were several other car brands that made bicycles before they made cars (e.g. Triumph, Rover, Minerva, Opel, ...).

Not to mention BSA, who made rifles before they made motorbikes.

Re: Dyson has scrapped its electric car project

#128

Post by the-dude »

agumonkey wrote: post #116
Svip wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Back when CRT televisions were the only option, Bang & Olufsen really made televisions of that era look great. But with flatscreens, everyone can make a television look great, so they've lost their edge. My point being, I don't think the comparison is fair. B&O used to be something. I don't think Dyson ever was.

Are you sure BO are in the same class as Dyson ? BO seemed to me a very niche luxury brand, Dyson is way more mainstream. Both have different values.

I believe B & O just did the enclosures and used other manufacturers parts so you basically bought a Philips TV in another jacket.

Re: Dyson has scrapped its electric car project

#129

Post by collyw »

bredren wrote: post #99
xivzgrev wrote: post #66

Why do companies keep thinking they can build a fucking car? Yes Tesla did it but it was a company 100% dedicated to it. Dyson has a core business already. I’m also skeptical about Apple but at least they have one of the largest treasure chests in the world of cash so they can more afford a moon shot.

I think in-part because Apple was able to move into the smartphone business and grow so much as a result it has other companies thinking they could do the same. Also, it could be some of these companies have existential threats that they must try something big and new or risk going out of business or being forced to sell to a rival.

Computers and iPods are a lot closer to a smartphone than to a car.

Re: Dyson has scrapped its electric car project

#130

Post by lazyjones »

djaychela wrote: post #23

I'm surprised at this - seems bizarre that it's a 'great product' but isn't commercially viable in any way? As an aside, I really can't understand why people are so enthusiastic about Dyson products - I find them to be poor to use and poor performers. My gf has a dyson vacuum cleaner (a v6, I think), and it's terrible. Battery life is minimal, the suction is poor compared to anything I've used in the past, all the no…

> I'm surprised at this - seems bizarre that it's a 'great product' but isn't commercially viable in any way? As an aside, I really can't understand why people are so enthusiastic about Dyson products

You already gave the answer: Dyson products are pricey for what they offer, so Dyson has a healthy profit margin (20%+), which isn't possible at this time with EV due to very strong competition that's not keen on being profitable, but makes very good cars and has a significant lead in advanced car software too.

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