EV hype meets reality
Skepticism around non‑traditional EV entrants is surging — Dyson’s roughly $46B EV push is now widely labeled a failure and Xiaomi’s car unit remains unprofitable, fueling concerns about outsiders entering auto manufacturing industry critique. - The debate even stretches to national strategy: critics point to moves like planned Chinese‑made EV imports to Japan as symptoms of leadership and market‑entry missteps commentary.
Dyson announced) on Oct. 10, 2019 that it was cancelling its electric‑car programme and said it would rechannel a planned £2.5bn development commitment. Independent coverage later reported Dyson had spent) roughly £500m on the effort and had a roughly 500‑strong) automotive team before the project was shut down. Xiaomi’s auto arm reported) an operating loss of ¥300m (about $41m) in Q2 2025 on deliveries of 81,302 vehicles. The company delivered roughly 135,000 cars) in 2024 and publicly set a 2025 target) of 300,000 units as it scales production. Market analysis noted Xiaomi still showed an adjusted net loss of ¥6.2bn) for the year with an average loss per vehicle in 2024 of about ¥45,300), explaining lingering scepticism despite margin improvements. Honda will import) a China‑built e:NS2 to Japan from spring 2026 (sold under the revived Insight name) with initial shipments limited to ~3,000 units). Reports in Bloomberg and Nikkei said the move aims to shore up a thin domestic EV lineup and raise plant utilisation in China, noting Honda previously had only two micro EV models) on sale in Japan.
