According to a BBC News report, Dyson has unveiled plans for a 10-mile test track in Wiltshire to put its new electric cars through their paces.
The track and other facilities are reported to be part of a plan to start selling a “radical” electric car from 2021.
The company — best known for its vacuum cleaners and domestic appliances — bought the disused airfield at Hullavington two years ago and has already renovated two hangars (built in 1938) at the 517-acre site.
The redevelopment undertaken so far has cost some £84 million; the next phase of the airfield’s development would take Dyson’s total investment in this project to £200 million.
About 400 automotive staff are now based at Hullavington, and three more buildings will open in the coming months, offering an additional 15,000m
2 of testing space.
Dyson’s chief executive, Jim Rowan (
www.dyson.co.uk), has predicted that Hullavington will soon become a “world-class vehicle-testing campus. We are now firmly focused on the next stage of our automotive project, strengthening our credentials as a global R&D organisation.”
James Dyson has yet to reveal any details of his electric car or where it will be built, although it is expected to be aimed at the upper end of the market.
The company is based close to Hullavington at Malmesbury, where it has set up a training institute for technology and engineering students.