THE folks in Dreameland have woken up and advised the rocket-powered electric hypercar it planned to stun the world with, is not going to happen.
It was just a few months ago that the Chinese electrics company, known for its impressive vacuum cleaners, showed its rocket-boosted electric wunderwagen which would zoom from zero to 100km/h in a fraction less than a second — 0.9 of a second, they said.
A dramatic colour image showed a great flame shooting from the tail of the sleek hypercar, which made us wonder what would happen to whatever was behind it.
Now a report by Car News China, says Dreame is shutting down its automotive business and will not build any cars, let alone the Nebula Next 01 Jet Edition with its custom-built dual solid-fuel rocket booster system.
Dreame is said to be already in the process of liquidating what it called its Starry Sky project, the automotive division that had a staff of about 1000.
Now there are only a couple dozen left to wind up operations.
The project, first shown in the US, was certainly ambitious.
On top of the stunning rocket-powered acceleration claims, the Dreame machine was also to be fitted with a sulfide-based, all-solid-state battery that had an energy density exceeding 450 Wh/kg — far superior to the lithium-ion batteries in production cars today.
Power output was up to 1931 horsepower (1420kW) via an independent quad-motor system.
Car News China reckons Dreame was all about marketing claims and fundraising while actual R&D and production took a back seat.
China Economy claims that the car displayed in the US was little more than a showpiece that lacked a functional chassis and had to be moved by remote control.
The so-called “Rocket Car” was bought from a Shanghai model-building company, then modified with a chassis and thrusters.
Those additions reportedly weren’t part of a functional propulsion system, but were instead intended to create a dramatic visual effect for cameras.
Dreame CEO Yu Hao is now said to be refocusing the company on the businesses it knows best, with plans to concentrate on four areas: vacuum cleaners, robotic lawnmowers, electric two-wheelers and its Magic Atom robotics business.
So the world will never experience the thrill of deploying rocket boosters while speeding down a runway in Dreame’s electric car.
The short-lived automotive adventure shows outrageous performance claims are the easy part; actually bringing them to life can turn out to be a nightmare.
In fact, what Dreames do best — suck.
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