Chinese vacuum cleaner brand Dreame to have solid-state battery powered electric cars in Australia by 2027 to trump BYD, Chery, MG and others

Chinese appliance and electronics company Dreame has confirmed it will launch in the Australian new car market within the next 12 to 18 months, and it has a big ace up its sleeve.

This company was founded in 2017 and currently sells a range of robotic and stick vacuum cleaners, among other beauty care and technological gadgets in Australia.

Read more

• 'They've been taking their customers for granted': New Chinese brand ready to punish legacy car makers in Australia
• Move aside Zeekr: Australia's newest Chinese brand Dreame to shake-up our auto industry as it says it's more unique than BYD and Tesla
• Now Chinese vacuum cleaner makers are building cars! Dreame builds Rolls Royce clone so obvious you’d swear it nicked the CAD files

Speaking with CarsGuide, Dreame Technology Country Manager for Australia and New Zealand James Moore said Australia will be the first right-hand drive market for the company to launch cars in.

Initially Dreame will be launching with a “family” of electric SUVs, as well as potentially an electric passenger car.

“What we’re looking to launch into Australia [and] New Zealand in the first instance will follow the model segmentation that you’ll expect to see,” said Moore.

“There will be a Dreame family of cars, you’re looking at small SUV, large SUV [and] potentially other segments that we’re seeing really good success within the market as well.

“When we then look at the Nebula Next range, which is obviously due to arrive in market within the next 18 months, you will then see a Dreame identity from a hyper/sports car point of view.”

To date Dreame has only a single concept car, the Nebula Next 01 concept. It’s a four-door electric hypercar with four electric motors producing a total system output of 1400kW.

Given the Chinese company is launching in the Australian market soon, it’s expected we’ll start seeing production versions of its cars very soon.

Little other features are known about these forthcoming Dreame electric vehicles (EVs), but Moore confirmed they will feature the company's in-house developed solid-state batteries.

To date no carmaker has launched an EV with a solid-state battery in Australia or anywhere in the world, though a number of others have the technology in the pipeline.

Solid-state batteries are often referred to as the holy grail of EV cells and the silver bullet to make electric sports cars, 4WDs and utes a reality.

Solid-state batteries are more energy dense, meaning you can use less of them. This makes the EV lighter and more efficient. Some estimates have said they can deliver EVs with a driving range of more than 1000km. They are also less prone to fire than conventional batteries.

At this stage Dreame hasn’t confirmed how its vehicles will be sold and serviced.

The brand once again floated the idea of using an existing retail network, like Harvey Norman, as its showroom footprint in Australia.

“We’re not ruling anything out, so there’s no reason why we can’t break the mould, do something different and partner with some of our existing partner network,” said Moore.

“If you look at who has joined us across this event, they represent over 1000 doors across Australia and New Zealand. That’s 1000 distribution points.

“If we choose to go down that route, yes, it will be breaking the mould, yes, it would be very different and could revolutionise the way [the] automotive industry exists moving forward.

“The reality is it’s probably going to go down the distributor route for that expertise, for the ability to launch at scale and to get those expert voices in the rooms for us to launch, but we’re not ruling anything out.”