The Dreame rocket car shutdown appears to have ended the Chinese appliance maker’s automotive experiment before it produced a vehicle for sale. Dreame said on August 25 that it had adjusted some operations in an exploratory phase. Separate reports identify the affected effort as Project Starry Sky, its electric-car operation.
The company’s statement did not name its vehicle business or give a reason for the changes. Dreame said it would concentrate on smart home, outdoor living or garden products, smart mobility, and embodied AI or intelligence. It also said technology, research results and resources from the adjusted operations would be placed into relevant business and R&D systems as needed, according to ChinaEVHome.
Is Dreame’s rocket car project shut down?
Reporting from China Economic Net, relayed by ChinaEVHome and The Verge, says Dreame decided to close its EV business and that entities tied to Project Starry Sky were being deregistered. That makes the Nebula Next 01 Jet Edition, which was presented as part of Dreame’s automotive push, part of the reported retrenchment. Dreame has not separately announced a cancellation of that named concept in the statement cited by those outlets.
The reason for the reported closure remains unsettled in the available reporting. The Verge said government funding had dried up, while Dreame’s own language describes an adjustment to exploratory work rather than identifying a cause.
What happened to Dreame’s Nebula Next 01 Jet Edition?
Dreame entered the car business in August 2025, according to ChinaEVHome. In 2026 it displayed the Nebula Next 01 Jet Edition in San Francisco, presenting the electric hypercar concept with two rear rocket engines. Dreame claimed the boosters would supply 100 kilonewtons of thrust and that the vehicle theoretically could accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 0.9 seconds, The Verge reported.
The company also claimed a sulfide-based solid-state battery with energy density above 450 Wh/kg and more than 550 km of range. Those are company specifications, not independently verified performance results. The supplied reports contain no evidence that a production rocket-powered Dreame car was sold or that the advertised acceleration was demonstrated.
Reports describe a rapid wind-down
ChinaEVHome, citing China Economic Net and former employees, reported that Dreame’s automotive workforce reached nearly 1,000 people before layoffs began in May. By August, the outlet said, only dozens remained, working on finance, legal, human-resources, supplier-payment and deregistration tasks. The Verge, citing CarNewsChina, described the remaining operation as a handful of legal and HR employees handling the shutdown.
Former employees also told China Economic Net that a display model lacked a chassis and was moved by remote control, according to The Verge and ChinaEVHome. That account has not been independently verified in the material available. Dreame did not address the former employees’ account in the statement cited by The Verge, and a company spokesperson did not respond to that outlet’s request for comment.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.
