Is inventor Dyson about to launch an electric car?

INVENTOR James Dyson is set to reveal plans to build electric cars, it is understood.

His high-tech firm, famed for its vortex vacuum cleaner, hand dryers and bladeless fans, has been recruiting talent from the car and technology industry. It is thought that Dyson will unveil the early stages of an electric vehicle at its headquarters in Wiltshire in England.

This would pose a threat to Silicon Valley giant Tesla, the electric car firm founded by billionaire Elon Musk, which has itself already shaken up the older-motoring firms.

Expectations about what Dyson was developing mounted after car makers accelerated their plans for electric vehicles.

Mini revealed its own all-electric vehicle ahead of this month’s Frankfurt Motor Show. Meanwhile, Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin are among many preparing to launch new electric and hybrid cars. A car division would signal a significant expansion for Dyson which, until now, has focused on consumer goods. Last year, Aston Martin’s product development director, Ian Minards, was recruited by Dyson, and was followed last month by Aston’s director of purchasing, David Wyer.

It is understood that a designer from Tesla has also been recruited. Dyson has also purchased a battery company, and has been recruiting computer experts who are specialised in ‘machine learning’, a technology that is essential to the development of self-driving cars.

Dyson has been investing £2.5billion (€2.8billion) into artificial intelligence research on a new 517-acre campus in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, spending £58million (€66million) on the specialist battery. He employs more than 8,000 staff (many at plants in Asia) with plans to expand fourfold over the next five years.

A spokesman for Dyson would not discuss future products but said: ‘We have historically recruited from a wide range of backgrounds as we are a broad church and are developing a multitude of technologies.’

He employs more than 8,000 staff