Dyson scraps electric car project saying it is 'not commercially viable'

Sir James Dyson has announced a project to build electric cars has been scrapped.

The inventor, best known for his vacuum cleaners, said engineers had developed a "fantastic electric car" but it was not commercially viable.

In an email to workers, Sir James said the company had unsuccessfully tried to find a buyer for the project, launched in 2017.

Sir James said the achievements of the engineering team had been "immense", given the enormity and complexity of the project.

He added: "The Dyson Automotive team has developed a fantastic car; they have been ingenious in their approach while remaining faithful to our philosophies.

"However, though we have tried very hard throughout the development process, we simply can no longer see a way to make it commercially viable.

"We have been through a serious process to find a buyer for the project which has, unfortunately, been unsuccessful so far.

"I wanted you to hear directly from me that the Dyson Board has therefore taken the very difficult decision to propose the closure of our automotive project."

He said moves were under way to quickly find alternative roles within Dyson for as many of the hundreds of employees on the project as possible.

There were enough vacancies to absorb most of the employees into Dyson's business, he said.