It's been almost two years since vacuum cleaner giant Dyson announced plans to build electric cars, something founder and chief engineer James Dyson has been hinting at since 2008. Now we have an idea of what form Dyson's first EV will take.

The company on Wednesday made public several patent drawings filed in 2017 that show what appears to be a long, sleek crossover SUV with three rows of seats. In other words, a Tesla Model X rival.

However, in an email sent to staff, and obtained by Bloomberg, James Dyson said the patents "don’t reveal what our vehicle will really look like or give any specifics around what it will do," but they do "provide a glimpse of some of the inventive steps" the company is investigating.

James Dyson

James Dyson

The patents show a flat battery in the floor and large, thin wheels, a design that creates less rolling resistance. The wheel pattern also appears to be an aerodynamic design, as is likely the raked windshield.

Dyson has committed $2.6 billion to its automotive division and hired former Infiniti boss Roland Krueger to oversee the division's 500 staff. A new plant in Singapore is expected to be ready in 2020 and if all goes to plan production will commence in 2021.

You might be wondering why Dyson has chosen Singapore as a manufacturing site. Singapore isn't a low-cost manufacturing location, and it doesn't have any car plants. However, the country has good access to numerous Asian markets and has a free trade agreement with key the EV market of China. Dyson already has a plant in Singapore for electric motors and this year moved its headquarters there from the United Kingdom.