Skip to main content

Dyson is looking beyond vacuum cleaners to developing electric cars

Dyson Small Ball
Bill Roberson/Digital Trends
Dyson is taking the next logical step for a company known for making innovative vacuum cleaners: electric cars. Thanks to a slip-up by the U.K. government, the company’s secret is out.

On Wednesday, the U.K. government published its “National Infrastructure Delivery Plan 2016-2021,” which included this statement, highlighted by The Guardian: “The government is funding Dyson to develop a new battery electric vehicle at their headquarters in Malmesbury, Wiltshire. This will secure £174m of investment in the area, creating over 500 jobs, mostly in engineering.” The document appears to have been updated since then, with that mention of Dyson removed.

Recommended Videos

When The Guardian asked Dyson if it was, indeed, developing an electric car, a spokesman said, “We never comment on products that are in development.”

Please enable Javascript to view this content

This isn’t the first time Dyson has been associated with electric cars: Last fall, CEO Max Conze said his company wasn’t ruling it out. “Like our friends in Cupertino, we are also unhealthily obsessive when it comes to taking apart our products to make them better,” he said referring to Apple, which is also not-so-secretly developing an electric car.

Dyson also acquired an experimental solid-state battery startup called Sakti3 in October. Solid-state batteries are scalable to an electric car.

According to The Guardian, Dyson recently revealed plans to invest £1 billion, or about $1.4 billion, in battery technology over the next five years.

Jason Hahn
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Jason Hahn is a part-time freelance writer based in New Jersey. He earned his master's degree in journalism at Northwestern…
The Maserati GranCabrio Folgore is one of the best-looking EVs yet
Front of the Maserati GranCabrio Folgore

Maserati is adopting electrified vehicles with open arms, and while that could potentially signal an identity crisis for the luxury Italian brand, that’s probably a good thing in the long run.

The company recently took the wraps off of the new Maserati GranCabrio Folgore, which is essentially a convertible version of its already released GranTurismo Folgore electric car. The new EV is its third go at electrified vehicles so far, and it flew us out to Rimini, Italy, to witness the big reveal in person.

Read more
Don’t let the gimmicks fool you. The Ioniq 5 N is a serious track car
2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N drifting.

We’re finally getting to the fun part of automakers’ methodical quest to replicate their lineups with electric cars.

Performance versions of ordinary cars have been a staple of the auto industry for decades. But while we’ve already seen some variants of EVs boasting more power and more impressive stats — think Tesla Model S Plaid or Lucid Air Sapphire — the 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N is the first to truly apply that format to an EV.

Read more
Genesis Neolun concept is an electric SUV inspired by tradition
Profile view of the Genesis Neolun concept.

Luxury SUVs have a familiar template: acres of leather, a high-end audio system, and some quality seat massagers. Unveiled ahead of the 2024 New York Auto Show, the Genesis Neolun, an EV concept previewing a future flagship SUV from the Korean brand, does things a little differently.

Like many traditional SUVs, the Neolun isn't small. But designers didn't try to hide its bulk and instead opted for a clean-and-simple design that, according to Genesis, is inspired by traditional Korean moon-shaped porcelain jars.

Read more