Honda Sports EV shaping up to be a baby NSX

New drawings filed with the Japanese Patent Office suggest Honda is readying a new pint-size pure-electric supercar.

Making it look more like a shrunken Audi R8 than the current NSX, the new patents -- discovered by

Originally, the 2017 Tokyo motor show Sports EV concept was designed to look more like a classic GT, but it's thought Honda might have switched to a supercar design to reflect a big increase in performance levels offered by the zero-emission sports car.

It's thought a mid-engine layout could reposition the batteries for both better weight distribution and improved traction from what's expected to be the rear-wheel drive production car.

The patents don't mention any specific technical details of the mystery supercar, but it's thought that at the very least it will be based on the same dedicated architecture as the Honda e.

The rear-drive Honda e, meanwhile, gets a 36kWh lithium-ion battery that provides for a range of around 200km.

Featuring a single 110kW electric motor, the Sports EV could neatly package a second electric motor over the rear axle to boost power and performance.

Unlike the Honda e, the Japanese car-maker has not yet green-lit a sportier battery-powered vehicle, but the existence of the latest patents is seen as evidence the car-maker is taking the idea of a zero-emission baby NSX very seriously.