Robot Vacuum Cleaner Manufacturer Wants To Build A Faster Hypercar Than Bugatti
A tech company from China wants to build its first product that doesn’t suck. Dreame is a company better known for its robot vacuums but now, like its main air-moving competitor Dyson, it aspires to jump into the auto industry with both brushes. Dyson’s failed attempt at automobiles was to be a sweeping range of mainstream models. Dreame’s dream is to slip into the most profitable crevice of the market. It wants to go after Bugatti and create “the fastest car in the world.”
Dreame Dreams Of An Electric Hypercar
“Today, Dreame officially announces its entry into automotive manufacturing to build the world’s fastest car,” the company said in an announcement. It plans to use larger-scale versions of motors that use the same tech it uses for vacuums and other household appliances to make high-performance cars. Like Bugatti’s gasoline-powered cars, Dreame wants its vehicles to be ultra-luxurious and very exclusive as well as incredibly fast.
The company has just made the announcement, but the efforts have already started. Dreame has a 1,000-person automotive team that includes hundreds of automotive engineers. The company said that this wasn’t a recent decision, and it actually goes back to a vehicle development plan it started more than 10 years ago. That’s four years before the company’s founding, showing that the founders have always wanted to make a vehicle.
Dreame’s smaller consumer electric motors for vacuums and other small appliances are designed to spin at more than 200,000 rpm. They’re made for applications that need high torque and high speed. The motors in a current EV usually spin closer to a max of 20,000 rpm. If an EV-maker wants to hit a higher top speed, a quicker-spinning motor is one of the best ways to accomplish it.
Can China Support Another Carmaker?
Dreame won’t be the first Chinese tech company to dip its toes into building cars. Xiaomi with models like the SU7 and Huawei with its Maextro brand are two of the largest. But the Chinese auto market is more competitive than ever. More than 100 automakers are fighting for a share, and that has led to serious price slashing, making it tougher to turn a profit. By focusing on the ultra-rich buyers shopping for cars like a Tourbillon, Dreame can completely avoid that competition. Even then, it won’t have the segment to itself, as another Chinese automaker, BYD, just became the world’s fastest EV manufacturer with the YangWang U9 Track Edition, eclipsing the next fastest EV by a big margin.
There’s more tech transfer from vacuums to cars than you might expect. Like Dreame’s vision recognition systems that help its products navigate your living room, they can also help with autonomous driving development. Dreame has more than 6,300 patents, and a non-negligible number of those are directly or at least partially transferable to electric vehicle tech.
The company hasn’t released any tech specs or more specific goals for its hypercar plans. Dreame said that it wanted to blend the rapid development of consumer tech, where new features and changes come almost annually, with the durability and long-term considerations that come with the auto sector.
There’s also the rivalry between Dreame and its domestic rival Roborock. The Rox 01 is a range-extended SUV that was designed by Pininfarina and launched in 2023. Unlike the Dreame car, its SUV will not compete for the quickest car in the world.
