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Dyson has scrapped its electric car project

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Re: Dyson has scrapped its electric car project

#191

Post by cannam »

w-m wrote: post #104
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!

I think the Dyson hand dryers work really well, the ones where you stick in your hands vertically. No other design of blowing hot air around your hands actually does the job it's supposed to do. And even the knockoffs of the Dyson design from other companies don't work as good as the Dysons, I recently had one that was build too short so I couldn't fit the whole hand in there. But yeah the household appliances just s…

> even the knockoffs of the Dyson design from other companies don't work as good as the Dysons

I think the Mitsubishi one - which predates the Dyson by some years, so arguably the Dyson is a knockoff of it - works pretty nicely, and it's much quieter.

Re: Dyson has scrapped its electric car project

#192

Post by not_a_cop75 »

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…

Most of Dyson's products are great but commercially unviable. It might as well be their mission statement.

Re: Dyson has scrapped its electric car project

#193

Post by amluto »

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…

Dyson cordless stick vacuums are excellent in the rather limited sense that there doesn’t seem to be much credible competition. LG at least seems to be trying. I would love a good stick vacuum with a bag.

I find it rather annoying that every generation of them seems gratuitously incompatible with every other generation, and they don’t seem all that well designed or particularly reliable.

Re: Dyson has scrapped its electric car project

#194

Post by carlmr »

dpark wrote: post #185
TeMPOraL wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That damages your hearing? Surely there must be a space between. Long time ago in a McDonald's in Poland I used one that would dry your hands in 5 seconds flat. It was powerful and loud, but only as loud as a blender. Which is loud, but not painful or damaging to ears... EDIT: it looked similar to this one: https://www.qbicwashrooms.co.uk/magnum-multidry-hand-dryer-w... Except it had even lower power rating. I don't…

> I don't get why this states "25 seconds". Do people have hands made from sponge? I don’t know why 25 seconds is hard to believe. That’s the manufacturer’s claim. I’d imagine if anything their claim is optimistic and the 60 seconds people claim is more realistic. If you have washed your hands properly, you’ll have several milliliters of water spread across the surface. Slow blowing warm air isn’t going to dry that o…

There was this TED talk once about shaking your hands twice to only need one towel. I've been doing it ever since and an Airblade will dry my hands in 10 seconds.

Re: Dyson has scrapped its electric car project

#195

Post by CalChris »

trenning wrote: post #126
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...

McClaren made 4,806 (really expensive fidgety) cars in 2018. Maybe that partnership/acquisition would have been similar to what Tesla did back in 2008. Tesla's first roadster was based on a Lotus glider with batteries from Panasonic which meant they could work on motors and control systems.

But Tesla has a huge lead at this point with a factory and battery factory. With Tesla batteries, the Model 3 is 95% American made with most of that Tesla made meaning hire marginal profit margins. Anyone entering this market has to compete against that lead.

Re: Dyson has scrapped its electric car project

#196

Post by hevi_jos »

specialp wrote: post #62
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…

Dyson really got the bagless vacuums to become the dominant vacuum in the USA. I think while it looks cool and relieving to see lots of stuff whirl in a transparent tornado chamber, it is far inferior to actually having a bag. You then have to dump out a dusty dirt container somewhere (hopefully not inside) and clean and sometimes replace an expensive filter. Vacuum bags are pretty cheap, and biodegradable, and much…

I personally love Dyson system. I have an old Dyson working, so powerful that making new ones of that power is forbidden in the UE.

Dumping the dusty container is much better than using bags in my own experience. When I used them they were extremely expensive and hard to find. The vacuum loses power as it fills.

If bags are cheap, that I don't know, it is only because Dyson has made them a commodity.

Using it for years (maybe decades) and never changed the filter, which is extremely easy to clean regularly.

Re: Dyson has scrapped its electric car project

#197

Post by EpicEng »

dariusj18 wrote: post #59
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 vacuums that were supposed to be as good as Dysons and they always sucked (though there are some Sharks I've heard good things about). Then I finally bought a Dyson (a v7) and it's been great. Great design and function.

In my experience Dysons are overpriced garbage. Do yourself a favor and buy a miele next time.

Re: Dyson has scrapped its electric car project

#198

Post by CalChris »

Frodo478 wrote: post #113
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.

You know what are the main elements of an electric car? Battery and electric motor. Dyson uses them in every product. So it's in the business more that you think. And another great skill of dyson is the design. And the CEO is one of the most famous in the world. So battery, motor and design makes a good electric car. At least in theory...

Dyson uses batteries but doesn't manufacture batteries. They've been researching the hell out of batteries but they don't manufacture batteries and they sure don't manufacture batteries at scale. Contrast with the Tesla gigafactory which cost $5B.

Dyson may have had something with their digital motor. It's hard to say whether that is an advantage let alone a competitive advantage. But at this point they should license that to one of the other EV players.

Re: Dyson has scrapped its electric car project

#199

Post by aasasd »

pavlov wrote: post #53

Another British gadget luminary, Sir Clive Sinclair (of early homecomputer ZX-81 fame) also tried his hand at electric vehicles in the 1980s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_C5 The product line was supposed to grow to include a two-seater C10 and a three-seater C15, but the C5 flopped so badly that those more car-like models never got produced.

Specifically, as @m-i-l noted (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20745170):

> One of the "selling points" of the Sinclair C5 was that its electric motor was built by Hoover and would be serviced at the existing network of vacuum cleaner service centres

----

But generally, microcars are fun. Eshelman upscaled their ‘Child Sport Car’ (i.e. a Barbie Jeep) and made a three-horsepower Adult Sport Car: https://i.imgur.com/bXXQIlg.jpg

And then they got carried away: https://i.imgur.com/EMicATK.jpg https://i.imgur.com/0CDiztK.jpg

Notably though, Eshelman began by making lightweight aircraft but somehow switched to light garden tractors before the microcars. But my favorite design of theirs is the Rocket Boat: https://i.imgur.com/4pLbmfe.jpg

Re: Dyson has scrapped its electric car project

#200

Post by bonestamp2 »

EpicEng wrote: post #197
dariusj18 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought vacuums that were supposed to be as good as Dysons and they always sucked (though there are some Sharks I've heard good things about). Then I finally bought a Dyson (a v7) and it's been great. Great design and function.

In my experience Dysons are overpriced garbage. Do yourself a favor and buy a miele next time.

It doesn't look like miele makes a cordless stick vacuum to go up against his V7. I've got a Dyson V8 and it is the best vacuum I've ever owned. I'd be happy to try a miele if they made something comparable though.
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