Could it be that Dyson, the company most known for its suite of reliable vacuums, will soon also be known for its range of reliable electric cars?
To quote former Tesla executive Ricardo Reyes – who joined Dyson in January – “you never know what Dyson has up their sleeve”.
Rumours mount that Dyson may, in fact, be building an electric car following the recruitment of its second Aston Martin executive in a year. Announced this week, David Wyer, former Director of Purchasing for Aston Martin, will join Dyson as Head of Procurement.
Other notable recent hires include former Aston Martin Product Development Director Ian Minards who joined in September 2016.
The recent hires support speculation birthed from the release of a government document, which mentioned funding for Dyson to build “a new battery electric vehicle at their headquarters in Malmesbury, Wiltshire” in March 2016.
Dyson also announced in February it would be building a new 517-acre campus in the English countryside, used to expand its R&D in batteries, robotics and artificial intelligence.
Reports state that Dyson has been expanding its research team specialising in machine learning and autonomous systems – key aspects for developing self-driving vehicles.
The move comes after Dyson’s acquisition of solid-state battery startup Sakti3 (for $90 million in 2015). Dyson has further committed to spend $1.29 on battery development.
When queried by Bloomberg, Dyson did not comment directly on the hire.
It seems they’re keeping tight lipped.
