Dyson plugs £200m into driverless cars UK technology campus

Household appliance technology firm Dyson today released details on the second phase of its plans to redevelop an airfield in Wiltshire as a research campus for self-driving cars, which will increase its investment in the space to £200m .

Dyson has already plugged £84m into the site to date. The planning application for the Hullavington site proposed the redevelopment of several retired World War Two air hangars into engineering work spaces, which could house up to 2,000 new employees.

Dyson is now requesting permission to build over ten miles of vehicle test tracks, including specialised routes to assess factors such as dynamic handling, off-road driving and how automated vehicles might handle various hills or slopes.

A mock-up of what the Hullavington site will look like once completed (Source: Dyson)

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Dyson’s chief executive Jim Rowan said the firm’s growing self-driving tech team has already begun working from the two hangars which were refurbished during the first phase of the plans.

He added the team is now “firmly focused on the next stage of our automotive project strengthening our credentials as a global research and development organisation”.