Robot vacuum company cancels its rocket-boosted electric hypercar

Dreame, the Chinese company known for robot vacuums and other home appliances, has scrapped its plans to build electric cars. The company had announced last year that it wanted to make luxury electric hypercars, unveiled a model at CES this year, and even floated a rocket-boosted version meant to hit 0-60 mph in under a second using solid rocket boosters (thrusters that add a burst of power beyond what the tires alone could handle). That rocket idea was always impractical, since the boosters would need to be swapped out or recharged after each use.

Now the whole car program is gone. Reports say Dreame had close to 1,000 people working on the effort at its peak, but layoffs have been ongoing for months. Sources cited in Chinese media suggest the car project may have been more about marketing and raising money than actually building vehicles, and that the department wasn't structured to spend on real research and development.

This isn't a home energy or rebate story, and it has no direct effect on your house, your utility bills, or any incentive programs. It's simply a sign of how many companies outside the auto industry have tried, and often failed, to break into electric cars — Dreame joins Apple and the Sony-Honda joint venture on the list of scrapped EV projects. If you're a Dreame vacuum owner, the news doesn't change anything about your appliance.