A working version of the Dyson electric vehicle (EV), described by founder James Dyson as a "fantastic electric car", sits in the idyllic English countryside, covered up and never to hit the roads. But its journey will not end there.

While senior executives at Dyson say there aren't fixed plans yet on what to do with the prototype of the car, the stillborn project is not so much a failed venture as it is a valuable learning point for the British technology company.