Dyson has given a first glimpse of the possible designs for its much-awaited electric vehicle, revealing a “radically different” car featuring large wheels suitable for offroad travel.

Patent filings emailed to more than 500 staff working on the closely-guarded £2 billion design project show a car which inventor and company boss James Dyson said would “include fundamentally new technologies and make some inventive leaps”.

However, Dyson was keen to stress that the patents were not necessarily an indication of the final design of the vehicle, which is currently under development in the UK, and which the company has pledged will go on sale in 2021. The first prototypes will be ready for testing next month at Dyson’s testing facility in Wiltshire.

Images included in the draft patent filing showed a normal chassis with large wheels providing a “low rolling resistance and high ground clearance” which would be “suited to city life and rough terrain”.

The technology powering the cars will also “differ from the status quo” by sidestepping the need for electric propulsion systems.

Dyson, a high-profile Brexit supporter, came in for criticism last year when he announced that production of the first electric car model would move to Singapore, rather than the company’s factories in the UK.

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