How come Dyson, a well-known home appliance company, suddenly started making cars?

In the email, James Dyson mentioned that this was not the first time Dyson had intended to enter the automotive industry. In the 1990s, Dyson developed several diesel exhaust treatment systems, but had to stop the project due to lack of market.

Dyson is committed to developing new battery technology, and is also constantly innovating in digital motors, battery systems, fluid dynamics and HVAC systems. "Now, we finally have the opportunity to integrate all the technologies to make a product," said James.

Leifeng.com learned that Dyson's electric car team currently has more than 400 members. It is reported that Dyson actually started the plan to manufacture electric cars in 2015. However, Dyson has done a good job of keeping it secret. James said: "The project will develop rapidly, but no more information will be disclosed at present. The competition for new technologies in the automotive industry is very fierce, and we must do everything we can to ensure that the details of the Dyson car are not leaked."

According to Dyson's plan, the design of the electric car will be completed at a former British Air Force training base in England. The manufacturing of batteries and electric cars will most likely be completed in Asia. Dyson's products are relatively expensive, and some foreign media speculate that the price of Dyson's electric cars may also be very high.

How can a good home appliance company suddenly start making cars? It is not difficult to understand.

First of all, automobile electrification has become a global trend.

In December 2015, at the Paris Climate Change Conference, nearly 200 parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change reached the Paris Agreement, which made arrangements for global action to combat climate change after 2020. Nine countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Belgium and India, have publicly stated that they will completely ban the sale of fuel vehicles after a period of time and have established a clear timetable for the elimination of fuel vehicles.

Among them, the Netherlands proposed to completely ban the sale of traditional diesel and gasoline vehicles in 2025; Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and India plan to ban sales in 2030. Leifeng.com also reported that after the British and French governments announced that they would phase out oil vehicles in 2040, the Scottish government also announced this month that it would phase out gasoline and diesel vehicles in 2032. my country also announced in September this year that it would formulate a timetable to stop producing and selling traditional energy vehicles.

In addition, countries are also stepping up efforts to build electric vehicle infrastructure to pave the way for the popularization of electric vehicles. Various signs indicate that electric vehicles will be a market with huge potential. Dyson, who has "extra resources", is also eager to try .

Global automakers have also responded based on policies:

• Toyota Motors said it will achieve mass production in China in 2019

• Volkswagen said it would start mass production of pure electric vehicles in 2020 and sell 3 million electric vehicles worldwide by 2025.

• Volvo says all new cars will have an electric engine by 2019

• BMW plans to mass-produce electric vehicles in 2020 and launch 25 electrified models, including 12 electric vehicles, by 2025.
  

Porsche also recently said that its electric sports car Mission E will be launched in 2019, and Audi, Mercedes-Benz and others are expected to achieve mass production in the next few years. Tesla also delivered 30 Model 3s this year.

Traditional car manufacturers have embraced electric cars, and Dyson, who is not a professional, is not blindly following suit. According to a report by Goldman Sachs this year, it takes about 30,000 components to make a traditional car, while it only takes about one-third (1,100) of the traditional car to make an electric car. The threshold for making electric cars is lower than that for making traditional cars .

Secondly, Dyson himself is also capable.

The first brush is battery technology .

Battery technology is one of the key technologies for manufacturing electric vehicles. In 2015, Dyson spent $900 million to acquire battery design company Sakti3. Sakti3 is a Michigan-based startup that designs all-solid-state batteries. It was founded in 2012 by Ann Marie Sastry, a professor at the University of Michigan. In 1994, Sastry received her doctorate from Cornell University. She and other researchers found that the energy storage of lithium-ion batteries can be improved by replacing electrolytes with solid materials.

Although the company's batteries are not yet available as standalone products, Sakti3 claims that it has found a way to produce batteries with twice the energy storage of standard lithium-ion models at half to one-third of the original cost. The current energy storage of Sakti3 batteries has reached 1143Wh/L.

Sastry and Sakti3 have won the favor of many politicians and investors, including GM Venture, a subsidiary of General Motors, which has invested in Sakti3. In March 2015, Dyson also joined the investment team. But perhaps investment could not satisfy Dyson's appetite, and in October of the same year, Dyson completely acquired Sakti3.

In addition, Dyson's engine technology is also at a certain level. Dyson's terminal products such as hair dryers, fans, and vacuum cleaners all use digital engines, that is, brushless DC motors. Although brushless DC motors are not original to Dyson, judging from the level of products manufactured by Dyson, Dyson has enough confidence to apply its own technology to electric vehicles.

Another brush is Dyson's perfect supply chain .

Leifeng.com learned that Dyson started building a global supply chain control center in July this year. To facilitate control, Dyson will also deploy Elementum's supply chain management system. The system covers all processes of supply chain management, including managing cargo routes, tracking cargo transportation, preventing risks, and detecting supply chain status. The transportation routes, risk links, and product quality in the supply chain can all be displayed in real time on the 16 display screens in the control center.

Dyson's annual supply chain task includes managing 2 billion parts from 300 suppliers, which are transported to four factories to produce 8 million products.

Elementum, which provides Dyson with a supply chain management system, is a subsidiary of Flextronic. Flextronic is a world-renowned professional electronics manufacturing service company with branches in 30 countries around the world and more than 200,000 employees. Auto parts are also part of Flextronic's products and services. It is worth noting that Flextronic itself is also a logistics service provider for Dyson. The services Flextronic provides include casting, modeling, painting, storage, repair, software design, supply chain system construction, and logistics services. As a third-party logistics service provider, the experienced Flextronic can be said to be deeply rooted in Dyson's supply chain.

Dyson has also poached a lot of talent . In January this year, Dyson poached Tesla's chief spokesperson Ricardo Reyes to be the Minister of Communications. In September last year and August this year, Dyson successively recruited Aston Martin's former product development director Ian Minards and procurement director David Wyer. In addition to executives, Dyson also recruited machine learning experts from Symantec. In a statement from the company, Dyson also mentioned that it will recruit more than 3,000 engineers by 2020 and cooperate with more than 40 universities around the world.

In fact, from Dyson's acquisition of a battery design company and poaching of employees, the outside world has long seen that Dyson, which makes home appliances, is planning to build cars. The gradual replacement of oil-powered cars by electric vehicles is a global trend and a big cake. Dyson itself has a strong foundation, so it is not a bad idea to invest in this "red ocean".