2020年リリース予定
2017年09月27日 10時45分更新
 |
|---|
Image from Dyson
掃除機のダイソンが電気自動車の開発を表明しました。2020年リリース予定、すでに400人以上のチームを作っており、20億ユーロ（約2650億円）を投資する準備があるということ。創業者のジェームズ・ダイソンさんが7月26日、社員宛に送ったステートメントを公式アカウントがツイッターでシェアしています。
ステートメントによれば、開発をはじめたのはなんと27年前、1990年のこと。ディーゼルエンジンの排気から煤（すす）をとりのぞくためのサイクロンフィルターの開発をはじめたそうです。1993年にはプロトタイプができましたが、当時は歓迎されず、むしろ、集めた煤（すす）を処分する方法が問題だとさえ言われたそうです。結果、プロジェクトは中止となりました。
今年2月にダイソンのシンガポール工場を訪れたとき、同行していた記者の1人がジェームズ・ダイソンさんに「モーター、ロボティクス、バッテリーがあれば、人か荷物を載せられる自動運転の何かができるのでは？」とたずねたことがありました。そのときは笑って答えてくれませんでしたが、やっぱり作っていたんですね。
というか、むしろ、いままでの掃除機や扇風機やドライヤーなどは、電気自動車に再参入するタイミングを虎視眈々と狙いながらつくりつづけてきたともいえそうです。もし電気自動車が作られるとしたら、シンガポールの完全にロボット化された製造ラインで開発されることになるのでしょうかね。いずれにせよ、楽しみです。
 |
|---|
| ジェームズ・ダイソンさん（今年2月撮影）。言ってよね |
原文：
In 1988 I read a paper by the UN national institute for occupational safety and health, linking the exhaust from diesel engines to premature death in laboratory mice and rats. In March 1990 a team at Dyson began work on a cyclonic filter that could be fitted on a vehicle's exhaust system to trap particulates.
By 1993 we had developed several working prototypes and showed an early iteration to british television programme Blue Peter. The team went to develop a much more sophisticated technology.
To our chogrin, nobody at the time was interested in employing our diesel exhaust capture system and we stopped the project. The industry said that 'disposing' of the collected soot was too much of a problem! better to breathe it in?
In the period since, governments around the world have encouraged the adoption of oxymoronically designated 'clean diesel' engines through subsideies and grants. Major auto manufactures have circumvented and duped clean air regulations. as a result, developed and developing cities are full of smog-belching cars, lorries and buses. It is a problem that others are ignoring.
Throughout, it has remained my ambition to find a solution to the global problem of air pollution. Some years ago, observing that automotive firms were not changing theire spots, I committed the company to develop new battery technologies. I believed that electrically powered vehicles would solve the vehicle pollution problem. Dyson carried on innovationg. The latest digital motors and energy storage systems power the Dyson Supersonic hair dryer and cord-free vacuum line. We've relentlessly in fluid dynamics and HVAC systems to build our fans, heaters and purifers.
At this moment, we finally have the opportunity to bring all our technologies together into a single product. Rather than filtering emissions at the exhaust pipe, today we have the ability to solve it at the source. So I wanted you to hear it direcly from me: Dyson has begun work on a battery electric vehicle, due to be launched by 2020.
We've started building an exceptional team that combines top Dyson engineers with talented individuals from the automotive industry. The team is already over 400 strong, and we are recruiting oggressively. I'm committed to investing 2 billion euro on this endeavour.
The project will grow quickly from here but at this stage we will not release any information. Competion for new technology in the automotive industry is fierce and we must do everything we can to keep the specifics of our vehicle confidential.
In London, nearly 9500 people die early each year due to long-term exposure to air pollution according to a study carried out by researches of King's Collage London. The World Health Organisation reports "in 2012 around 7 million people died - one in eight of total global deahes - as a result of air pollution exposure". It is our obligation to offer a solution to the world's largest single environmental risk. I look forward to showing you all what I hope will be something quite unique and better, in due course!
James
0 件のコメント:
コメントを投稿