I tend to agree that this is a bunch of baloney. How could a "source" know that the battery is new, but looks like the LP-E6 and not be able to tell if the model is "5" or "S." If you've been close enough to see the battery, how could you not have been close enough to see the model number?
Still, playing devil's advocate for a minute here: 45 mp scales down to a respectable 17.5 mp in crop mode. It could be possible that Canon is developing a "hybrid" model in the sense that it offers high resolution in full frame mode and faster fps, etc., in crop mode. Perhaps this is the 7D replacement with a full frame sensor. I doubt it, but it does make for an interesting thought experiment.
I'll only believe that Canon can increase the AF tracking speed and maximum fps when using a FF sensor in crop mode if/when we actually see such a camera actually doing that.
As it stands now, the crop mode in the EOS R is no faster than the FF mode. Same 3 fps when doing Servo tracking between each frame whether cropped or FF.
The crop sensor in the M6 Mark II smokes the FF R in crop mode.