tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/james-dyson-26181/articlesJames Dyson – The Conversation2019-10-16T11:48:28Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1251732019-10-16T11:48:28Z2019-10-16T11:48:28ZDyson car: electrifying transport needs a lot more than another high-end vehicle<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297317/original/file-20191016-98661-r9rdqw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/bangkok-thailand-2018-january-2-tuk-786785059?src=0bjKOAIPb5BhJbyvWVof3w-1-2">Phantomm/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>James Dyson’s decision to cancel <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50004184">his electric car project</a> in Singapore can’t have been easy. His engineering company had devoted four years and millions of pounds to the vehicle’s development but has now decided it isn’t commercially viable. Perhaps there isn’t room for another would-be Tesla to challenge the established automotive industry with a novel electric car and leapfrog the challenges of manufacturing.</p>
<p>We feel personal sympathy, as one of us (Harry) was involved in the development of a “from scratch” <a href="https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/electric-taxi-prototype-launched-motor-show">electric taxi, EVA,</a> in Singapore from 2011 to 2014. Like Dyson’s car, the design also got shelved. The lesson was that new players typically lack the capital and manufacturing expertise needed to start a car production line and compete with existing manufacturers.</p>
<p>But there’s another important conclusion to be drawn from looking at the potential market for electric vehicles, specifically focusing on Southeast Asia. It goes to the heart of why successfully developing high-end cars isn’t going to be enough to electrify personal transport when the market gives so many reasons for the incumbent fossil fuel-based system to resist.</p>
<p>The vehicle market in Singapore has a big share of rather expensive cars, but its absolute volume is dwarfed by that of almost all larger neighbouring cities. Not only do cities like Jakarta, Manila and Bangkok have many more cars registered than Singapore. They also suffer more serious air pollution from their vehicle fleet. But that wouldn’t improve much even if all cars were electrified. </p>
<p>For example, in Bangkok, only 40% of roadside primary organic aerosol (POA) pollution stems from cars. The other <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms4749#Sec7">60% comes from two-stroke engine scooters</a>, even though they use only around 10% of fuel sold. Each two-stroke engine in a scooter or three-wheeled tuk-tuk is <a href="http://discovermagazine.com/2008/may/21-two-strokes-and-youre-out">as harmful as 30 to 50 modern</a> petrol cars. This is because two-stroke engines mix lubrication oil <a href="https://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/engines-equipment/two-stroke6.htm">into the fuel</a>. It is the price paid for their simple construction and affordability. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296978/original/file-20191014-135495-cq8vit.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296978/original/file-20191014-135495-cq8vit.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296978/original/file-20191014-135495-cq8vit.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296978/original/file-20191014-135495-cq8vit.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296978/original/file-20191014-135495-cq8vit.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296978/original/file-20191014-135495-cq8vit.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296978/original/file-20191014-135495-cq8vit.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296978/original/file-20191014-135495-cq8vit.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">One two-stroke engine pollutes more than 30 petrol-based passenger cars.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Energy Lancaster</span></span>
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<p>This means that electrifying scooters and tuk-tuks would produce much higher improvements in air quality per vehicle than doing the same for comparatively clean cars. And given that these vehicles can easily run on today’s batteries, it should technically be an easy job to convert the fleet. <a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/why-electric-motor-scooters-are-leading-electric-vehicle-revolution-in-asia">China has achieved quite a lot in this sphere.</a></p>
<p>But other countries in Southeast Asia, where scooters have been around for generations and are part of the economy and culture, may require a systemic market change.</p>
<p>Owners of scooters, motorbikes and tuk-tuks rely on an important support network of businesses to provide fuel, maintenance and spare parts. Without such a support network in place, no shiny new vehicle can conquer a relevant market share. And if those who benefit from the current petrol-based transport system are left out, they have no incentives to support electrifying transport. </p>
<p>Anecdotally, a similar problem has already been seen in the power generation sector. Much effort has recently been made in communities not connected to a power grid to replace diesel generators with <a href="https://www.ekoenergy.org/solar-vs-diesel-why-solar-generators-should-power-rural-communities/">solar panels and batteries</a>. What sounds like a technical no-brainer can be hindered by unexpected circumstances: this technology does not come with many jobs for the local community after installation. The people who currently sell diesel, maintain the generators and sell the electricity would need another source of income. It seems likely those people understandably do little to support such a transition. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://rsa.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2157930X.2012.664036#.XaYXH5NKhp9">systemic market change</a> that could drive electrification must learn from local entrepreneurs. It would have to address the challenge of higher capital costs for buying batteries and electric motors compared to two-stroke engines. And it would have to replace declining income from selling fuel and lubricant oil with other services such as battery charging or swapping. In China, the <a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/why-electric-motor-scooters-are-leading-electric-vehicle-revolution-in-asia">transition towards electric two-wheelers</a> was achieved by regulation in combination with local mass-manufacturing.</p>
<p>There are lessons here for manufacturers as well. Vehicles in the scooter class don’t need the latest generation of expensive <a href="https://theconversation.com/nobel-prize-in-chemistry-how-lithium-ion-battery-inventors-changed-the-world-125009">lithium ion batteries</a>. How much energy they can store is less important than the ability to easily exchange or even repair the batteries. Where possible, vehicle spare parts such as wheels or brakes should be identical to what is available in the respective local markets. </p>
<h2>Promising changes</h2>
<p>Some promising products such as an electric <a href="https://magnet.me/en-GB/company/tuk-tuk-factory">tuk-tuk</a> already exist. In Indonesia, <a href="https://theinsiderstories.com/indonesias-govt-prepares-electric-motorbike-regulations/">locally designed and built e-scooters</a> have started entering the market. Indonesia’s government has taken important regulatory measures, <a href="https://theconversation.com/indonesias-fuel-subsidy-cuts-prevented-even-worse-traffic-jams-82855">cutting fuel subsidies</a> while <a href="https://jakartaglobe.id/context/indonesias-first-locally-produced-electric-bike-turns-heads-at-iims-2019">creating incentives for domestic production of electric vehicles</a>.</p>
<p>In the Philippines, the large-scale roll-out of “<a href="https://www.doe.gov.ph/press-releases/scaled-down-e-trike-project-push-through-doe">e-trikes</a>” saw some delays, but it taught important lessons: don’t start too big, and make sure that an ecosystem is in place to support the new vehicle beyond the point of sale. </p>
<p>The challenge of electrifying the transport sector requires these kind of economic and sociological insights as much as technical ones. It needs industry to work with governments and banks in a concerted effort to replace billions of noisy and dirty engines. Local product design in combination with local manufacturing means a paradigm shift: the transformation of sheer markets for predominantly Japanese motorcycles into players in clean transport technology.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125173/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Harry Hoster receives funding from The Faraday Institution and Innovate UK. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. He supported two Lancaster students who won the James Dyson award 2018 for their O-Wind turbine.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katy Mason receives funding from the Department of Culture Media and Sport to investigate the making of markets in relation to emergent 5G technologies in rural settings, and from the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, to explore the potential for developing hydrogen markets in the Heysham and the North West.</span></em></p>Electrifying transport needs bigger changes than another high-end electric car.Harry Hoster, Director of Energy Lancaster and Professor of Physical Chemistry, Lancaster UniversityKaty Mason, Reader in Marketing, Markets and Management, Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1104612019-01-24T16:03:25Z2019-01-24T16:03:25ZDyson’s move may not be about Brexit – but the timing was bound to fan flames<p>If a private company with around 5,000 employees moved its headquarters overseas a few years ago, it might not have attracted much attention beyond concerns for the local economic impact. But these are no ordinary times. </p>
<p>The announcement that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/22/dyson-to-move-company-hq-to-singapore">Dyson is switching its HQ</a> from the English county of Wiltshire to Singapore has <a href="https://www.theweek.co.uk/99153/twitter-reacts-to-dyson-s-singapore-move">provoked a huge reaction</a>. The company was keen to downplay any possible link between the move and Brexit (of which Sir James Dyson is a vocal supporter). Nevertheless, the news has attracted many critics, many of them not typically engrossed with long term corporate strategy.</p>
<p>There are valid reasons to accept Dyson’s statement at face value when understanding why the HQ move makes business sense. While Dyson still experiences a stable level of growth in its established European and American markets, this is dwarfed by a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/01/dyson-hoovers-up-801m-profit-in-asian-spending-boom">vast sales increase</a> in Asia. </p>
<p>To capitalise on this growing market, the company has already <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45950377">established Singapore</a> as a production base for its electric cars, along with its assembly work taking place in Malaysia and the Philippines. </p>
<p>Singapore has also <a href="https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/singapore-china-sign-free-trade-agreement-upgrade-10922790">recently agreed</a> a bilateral free trade pact with China, allowing Dyson to enjoy a level of market access that would not be available in the UK or the EU.</p>
<p>Dyson was also quick to allay fears regarding its employees in the UK. As production has largely moved overseas in the last decade, nearly all of its workforce in the UK are employed as scientists or engineers (where the majority of their products are designed and developed). And as the company continues to expand its research activities and significantly invest in graduate careers and academic research, there are no clear signs that the move will affect its economic activity in the UK for the foreseeable future.</p>
<p>While this all gives Dyson a defence for a strategic move, it is also easy to understand why this announcement has attracted criticism. First, the timing is notable, in a week when several other companies drew attention for their strategic decisions. </p>
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<p>These include Sony (which is <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46968720">moving its European headquarters</a> to the Netherlands), P&O (re-flagging its UK registered English Channel fleet <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/po-post-brexit-plan-to-register-channel-fleet-in-cyprus-11614554">to Cyprus</a>) and Pets at Home (<a href="https://news.sky.com/story/pets-at-home-to-stockpile-up-to-8m-of-products-in-case-of-hard-brexit-11614312">announcing a possible</a> stockpiling of its inventories). </p>
<p>What’s different about these announcements is their explicit link to issues concerning Brexit. This pragmatism was also evident in the CEO of Airbus <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46984229">hinting at relocating</a> the company’s operations. (He was also very blunt about the damage that a no-deal Brexit could potentially cause.) </p>
<h2>Business abhors a vacuum</h2>
<p>While it may be perfectly true that Dyson’s relocation has little to do with Brexit, announcing it when many other businesses are publicly expressing opinions on Brexit (that on the surface appear quite opposed to Sir James’s personal views) means it is inevitable that it will be discussed in the context of the surrounding news.</p>
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<p>Another factor gives critics of Brexit further ammunition against Dyson. The move to Singapore appears to highlight the perceived disconnect between Brexit’s most affluent supporters and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/oct/30/no-deal-brexit-would-trigger-lengthy-uk-recession-warns-sp">concerns</a> over average living standards in the immediate aftermath of any Brexit. </p>
<p>For well-known figures such as Dyson, any public support of Brexit can risk accusations of being out of touch with ordinary citizens (ironically, a similar charge to that often levelled at visible Remain campaigners).</p>
<p>Some <a href="http://lordashcroftpolls.com/2016/06/how-the-united-kingdom-voted-and-why/">polling has shown</a> that the majority of those supporting Brexit fall into the older demographic, generally citing ideological reasons rather than economic ones. The particular danger that business figures such as Dyson face when championing Brexit as an ideology, is that their economic situation will come under scrutiny. This in turn may strengthen perceptions that any economic changes to the country will not personally affect them or their quality of life.<br>
As a result, any comments they give on the state of the economy, such as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/01/dyson-hoovers-up-801m-profit-in-asian-spending-boom">Sir James’s</a> “hope (that the UK economy) will bounce back” in February 2018, can come across as quite glib.</p>
<p>That said, criticism on social media probably means very little to Dyson as a company, which continues to enjoy unrivalled success in the UK and overseas. But this episode shows that business figures (particularly those expressing strong views on Brexit) need to be aware of how much more examination their comments and decisions will attract.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110461/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gavin Midgley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Its billionaire boss was a strong supporter of exiting the EU. Now the company is moving its headquarters out of Britain, too.Gavin Midgley, Senior Teaching Fellow in Accounting, University of SouthamptonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/569682016-04-04T14:38:16Z2016-04-04T14:38:16ZHow Dyson can offer a challenge to Tesla and the electric car giants<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116817/original/image-20160330-28462-1k12zus.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Shockwaves. Momentum is with electric cars.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/seegioo/4233306675/in/photolist-7s5NA8-ghtft-fwrceq-jBQca8-23Xh2H-sFggKR-cNPJyG-i9ZA37-6HKJ5o-ce24FS-ee4q6b-cAyvPE-rnQeE7-pbWqdh-ei2sp6-8LrNgx-8d9TXi-fkxMWj-onHR6k-9NGKrb-dU5Ysv-9NJybd-9LE1CS-cRg1dY-aE9yox-nxCxU6-5yd8Zx-9NH9LR-s2u89Q-9NFVNX-cVkC2s-gDLhsp-9U2LUQ-tB95ry-9NEwpU-8xrZEg-9NJAiA-9famxT-9YwTwP-bKzuZi-o3gDix-ce64Ds-daiUtY-8v9Sdt-oySm2C-4KrpK8-dkxmea-8v9Sfk-nSMyVE-bV2iLV">Sergio Monsalve</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>British vacuum cleaner manufacturer Dyson may be steering into a brand new market. News that the company owned by inventor and entrepreneur, James Dyson, has received UK government research funds <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/23/dyson-developing-electric-car-government-documents">for electric vehicle research</a> sparked excitement shortly before electric car pioneer Elon Musk launched the latest, <a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-tesla-model-3-20160331-htmlstory.html">lower-priced model of his Tesla</a> range. The two men are at different ends of the development spectrum, but they face the same stiff challenges against the traditional incumbents.</p>
<p>Details around the British venture are sparse – an earlier reference to the development of an actual vehicle was <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/dyson-is-making-an-electric-car-government-funding-documents-reveal-a6950591.html">apparently removed</a> from the final document which revealed the funding. But it is clear that the transition from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles will involve the development of a series of services and products – a value chain – which will require the involvement of new players in existing automotive supply networks.</p>
<p>Clearly a firm like Dyson has considerable expertise in relevant areas such as electric motors, charging protocols, storage batteries, energy management software and other relevant technologies to electric vehicles. There are echoes here of China’s main <a href="http://www.byd.com">electric car and bus producer, BYD</a>, which had been primarily a producer of batteries for devices such as laptops and mobile phones. Vehicles were a sideline to this activity – admittedly increasingly important – alongside other new areas such as photovoltaics. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116826/original/image-20160330-28455-18uor24.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116826/original/image-20160330-28455-18uor24.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116826/original/image-20160330-28455-18uor24.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116826/original/image-20160330-28455-18uor24.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116826/original/image-20160330-28455-18uor24.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116826/original/image-20160330-28455-18uor24.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116826/original/image-20160330-28455-18uor24.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116826/original/image-20160330-28455-18uor24.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The next Musk? James Dyson.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/conservatives/3984486210/in/photolist-9TxVYA-9TxWdC-9Tv4Qa-9Tv762-9TxVfY-9Tv9Rk-9Tv8Ma-9TxX8j-9TxUmW-dW3kpe-dW3kjZ-9TxW75-dW3kUF-dW8Wf3-dW3kdB-dW3kZn-ahjTEp-756wW7-4b2sUW-aUVW2a-aUVUZi-aUWgwi-aUVWE6-aUW6jr-aUVSPH-aUW3HZ-AqFtpz-aUWdZX-fm2nD7-aUVVxe-AZ36iU-77Vmjb-aUWaTk-avrkTo-b3cDa8-7329x-fm2pby-fm2nGA-e6sir2-8RhLbC-BLVrTQ-wzAAGp-E6HCVF-wzAY1g-B19DBj-AonwMd-e6xWA1-8S51oq-299NS9-vNyXUg">Conservatives/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<h2>Shocks to the system</h2>
<p>The move towards electric vehicles is disruptive in many respects and attracts new entrants with, so far, varying degrees of success. While Tesla still seems to be <a href="http://qz.com/648506/after-the-tesla-model-3-launches-this-week-the-world-will-know-if-elon-musk-called-the-electric-car-future-correctly/">going from strength to strength</a> – thanks in no small measure to considerable resources and its charismatic boss – others, <a href="http://www.fisker-automotive.be/">such as Fisker</a>, have been less successful. </p>
<p>Set up by Henrik Fisker, a car designer with an impressive track record in the mainstream internal combustion car industry and in receipt of US government support, it nevertheless <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-fisker-wanxiang-sale-idUSBREA1H1LM20140218">slipped into receivership</a> only to be rescued by Chinese interests to be <a href="http://www.karmaautomotive.com">reborn as Karma Automotive</a>. On the less glamorous supplier side there are also various new entrants from the worlds of information and communications technology and from electronics who are making tentative steps to become automotive suppliers in this newly emerging value chain. </p>
<p>The diversified <a href="http://www.bollore.com/en-us/activities/electricity-storage-and-solutions/electric-vehicles-solutions">French group Bolloré</a> runs shared schemes such as Autolib in Paris. Household names Apple and Google are at an early stage in their electric vehicle development – albeit with more ambitious plans in the pipeline.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Google self-driving car project.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Innovation and transition academics often assume that technological revolutions are largely driven by new entrants. Such a belief is often implicit in their work. But University of Sussex professor <a href="https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/green-innovation-public-funding-by-mariana-mazzucato-2016-03">Mariana Mazzucato has shown</a> that many of the truly innovative activities, which allow genuinely new technologies to be developed and then established are in fact due to visionary policy makers pushing resources in the right direction. Note that the US government <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-autos-gm-treasury-idUSBREA3T0MR20140430">not only supported General Motors</a>, but also Tesla, Fisker and ABC Battery Systems.</p>
<h2>Charged up</h2>
<p>Private players can only enter markets once there is money to be made, which is rarely in the development phase. Also, it should be noted that much of the emerging electric car value chain is still in the hands of the big players from the established, petrol engine world, Tesla’s efforts notwithstanding. The world’s biggest battery electric vehicle producer is <a href="http://evobsession.com/world-electrified-vehicle-sales-2013/">Renault-Nissan</a>, while other significant players include those masters of traditional engine design, BMW, as well as GM, Ford and the <a href="http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/technology/electric-vehicles">Volkswagen Group VAG</a>. Developments at the latter are receiving an <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-volkswagen-got-caught-cheating-emissions-tests-by-a-clean-air-ngo-47951">extra boost since “dieselgate”</a>. </p>
<p>Few now remember that electric cars are not an entirely new technology – to the mainstream carmakers anyway. VW offered the Golf CitySTROMer to paying customers in the 1980s, while BMW showed a number of small electric vehicles, such as the E1, in the 1990s. Peugeot made its own versions in the 1940s, while Japanese minicar and minitruck producer Daihatsu was the word’s largest producer at one stage. Other electric vehicle niches have long existed, for instance the French and Italian quadricycle producers <a href="http://www.aixam.com">Aixam-Mega</a>, <a href="http://www.automobiles-ligier.com">Ligier</a>, <a href="http://www.casalini.eu">Casalini</a> and <a href="http://www.tazzari-zero.com">Tazzari</a>. These products, along with those from <a href="http://www.mahindrareva.com">Reva in India</a> also helped kickstart market penetration in places such as London. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116827/original/image-20160330-28455-xtujq5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116827/original/image-20160330-28455-xtujq5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116827/original/image-20160330-28455-xtujq5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116827/original/image-20160330-28455-xtujq5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116827/original/image-20160330-28455-xtujq5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116827/original/image-20160330-28455-xtujq5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116827/original/image-20160330-28455-xtujq5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116827/original/image-20160330-28455-xtujq5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Somewhere in a parallel universe …</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dgeezer/16736052183/in/photolist-ruUDeR-ot3hUY-owZu-bBZvn1-oKfWZi-fDKuGU-bBZuF3-ot369V-3hsKtj-s8ojig-JUbCr-2itqnw-e9HBZu-24F2N-6Y8jTt-idTXya-idTRBG-idUoCs-idUgab-e8YFaE-idU26G-idUfBC-idUoXV-idU4md-ajR67n-idUeof-idUc46-idUhDT-idUfNS-eCGYg-idUsyo-idUje7-idTZZd-idUdjb-idU9Fb-idU6uQ-idUDan-9Y7Du9-idU5sm-2itsAY-idUfaN-9vMTQD-idUrHL-idTMZR-idTSda-idUihM-idUonB-idUk1C-idUbWF-9tDbsP">diamond geezer/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<p>Much of the electric vehicle therefore probably exists already. The inertia and dependencies in the existing automotive “regime” are often underestimated, but <a href="http://www.researchgate.net/publication/256859600_Transition_failure_Understanding_continuity_in_the_automotive_industry">they are very real</a>. If Dyson manages to conjure a valuable addition to the market, then it will face issues such as the lack of a distribution network which present real barriers to new entrants – hence Tesla’s direct sales model. And the economies of scale inherent in mass car production, and the resulting cost penalty for anything produced at a smaller scale, are difficult to overcome. </p>
<p>For this reason, moves to turn basic technologies such as battery packs, motors and controllers into commodities that can be shared by a wide range of assemblers offer real hope to many would-be electric vehicle producers; it is in this kind of area that companies like Dyson could play a role as developer and supplier of key components and sub-assemblies to be used as modules by smaller independent assemblers around the world.</p>
<p>Emerging from all this is the realisation that the core competence of established mass car producers is not so much “metal-bashing” and internal combustion engine development, but rather systems integration; a skill set equally useful for the mass production of electric vehicles. This therefore puts the existing players at a distinct advantage over any newcomers until they can present a genuinely innovative business model in areas where the big boys cannot or will not follow them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/56968/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Nieuwenhuis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The vacuum cleaner maker faces the same challenges as Elon Musk against the big auto players – so maybe it’s time to try a different road.Paul Nieuwenhuis, Senior Lecturer and Co-Director, Electric Vehicle Centre of Excellence (EVCE), Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.