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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

#211

Post by whycombagator »

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…

> 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.

A few family/friends had Dyson vacuums over the years - always worked pretty good but failed frequently. Generally they grew to dislike Dyson products based on those experiences. I now have a perception of low reliability towards Dyson products as a result.

However, many of the same friends/family (years later) now have Dyson stick vacuums and swear by them.

> Dyson hand dryers in public toilets don't dry your hands in the claimed 10 seconds, they take about the same time as any other dryer, and usually lead to wet washroom floors as they blow the water all over the place.

I find these particularly disgusting with how the design promotes build up.

Re: Dyson has scrapped its electric car project

#213

Post by TeMPOraL »

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…

> I don’t know why 25 seconds is hard to believe.

Because it's 2.5 kilowatt blower making 78 dB of noise, according to the technical spec under that link. With these parameters, you should be able to dry your hands in 5 seconds while keeping them a meter away. Like with the one I mentioned seeing in that McDonald's, which was AFAIR rated at something around 1.2 kW (and I remember thinking that's already impressive for a hand dryer).

> Slow blowing warm air isn’t going to dry that off in 5 seconds.

But fast blowing, slightly less warm air would.

I was subtly suggesting that the reason may be what 'carlmr mentioned in a parallel reply - maybe people don't shake off the water after washing their hands, preferring instead to both waste their time at the dryer and add work to the cleaning stuff that now has extra water to mop off the floor?

Re: Dyson has scrapped its electric car project

#214

Post by jacquesm »

aasasd wrote: post #199
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…

That rocket boat looks like a swimmer skewer.

Re: Dyson has scrapped its electric car project

#215

Post by BeetleB »

djaychela wrote: post #95
FerretFred wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I'm surprised at this - seems bizarre that it's a 'great product' but isn't commercially viable in any way? The UK government are pushing EVs heavily but there's no charging infrastructure in place and very few can afford the £30-40K it costs to buy them :(

But if that was the problem, then how/why are other manufacturers making them viable? I wouldn't say there is 'no infrastructure in place' - yes, it's less than the ICE infrastructure, but it's perfectly possible for many people to use an EV for their transport requirements. Not everyone, but plenty of people can do - and do.

>But if that was the problem, then how/why are other manufacturers making them viable?

Because their products are not as great as Dyson's?

I'm kinda surprised people here are focusing on this. As an example, if I make a $10K vacuum cleaner for residential use, and it's way better than all existing residential vacuum cleaners, then that would be an example of a great product that is not economically viable.

Dyson isn't saying electric cars are not economically viable. He's not even saying that good electric cars are not. He is saying that the one they had designed is really good but would need to be sold at a price that is not viable.

Of course, given that Teslas are selling very well in the UK, I do wonder...

Re: Dyson has scrapped its electric car project

#216

Post by DaiPlusPlus »

the-dude wrote: post #128
agumonkey wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Yep. In the days of CRTs, Sony’s heavily patented Trinitron (aperture grille) CRT tech was the best by miles - no way B&O could engineer that themselves.

Re: Dyson has scrapped its electric car project

#217

Post by roland35 »

joncrane wrote: post #150
hourislate wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stop using air dryers in bathrooms. They blow fecal matter all over the place. >Hand dryers suck in fecal bacteria and blow it all over your hands, study finds. We know fecal bacteria shoots into the air when a lidless toilet flushes — a phenomenon known, grossly, as a "toilet plume." ... Into a hand dryer and onto your clean hands, perhaps. That's what a new study suggests. https://www.businessinsider.com/bathroom-h…

Most bathrooms with hand dryers eschew the paper. So the alternative is just walking around with wet hands? Or not washing your hands at all?

Hand sanitizer (if available) actually does a great job of drying off hands as well!

Re: Dyson has scrapped its electric car project

#218

Post by nsxwolf »

bdamm wrote: post #167
ehnto wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Xlerators are an auditory health hazard. You can hear them running outside the gym before you can hear the music blaring.

The emerging research showing hearing damage to children, who stand closer and lower in to the air blower, is pretty damning. I'll pretty much never use these if I can avoid it. Paper towel is quick, it's quiet, it's mess free, and it's made out of a renewable resource that pulls CO2 from the air. What's not to like about paper towels?

I wipe my hands on my pants.

Re: Dyson has scrapped its electric car project

#219

Post by officialjunk »

dpark wrote: post #184
redwall_hp wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All hand dryers are a health hazard. They're a wet, warm, bacteria incubator that can then aerosolize the bacteria. In contrast, the mechanical action of drying your hands with a paper towel is an additional antibacterial step.

Why do you imagine that normal hands dryers are wet? The original Dyson airblades? Sure. Those are gross. Normal air dryers don’t have anywhere to store water, and if somehow you got water inside, it would rapidly dry itself out from normal use.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-bacterial-horror-of-...

Re: Dyson has scrapped its electric car project

#220

Post by kumarharsh »

joncrane wrote: post #150
hourislate wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stop using air dryers in bathrooms. They blow fecal matter all over the place. >Hand dryers suck in fecal bacteria and blow it all over your hands, study finds. We know fecal bacteria shoots into the air when a lidless toilet flushes — a phenomenon known, grossly, as a "toilet plume." ... Into a hand dryer and onto your clean hands, perhaps. That's what a new study suggests. https://www.businessinsider.com/bathroom-h…

Most bathrooms with hand dryers eschew the paper. So the alternative is just walking around with wet hands? Or not washing your hands at all?

... or you can just carry a handkerchief with you.
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