The two-seat Hiriko, tipped to receive endorsement from EU leaders at its launch, is the result of a partnership of Basque businesses, the Spanish government and the US’s renowned MIT Media Lab. The tiny bubble car is tipped to go into production in Spain next year.

Each wheel is independently driven and steered by “robot” in-wheel electric motors making for extra manoeuvrability, while the rear of the capsule-like city car can slip under the chassis. It then only takes up two-thirds of the footprint of a Smart car, claim its makers. The consortium behind the project hope this will allow cities to free up some of the many square miles of precious space parked cars currently inhabit.

Several European and American cities are to be the scenes for the initial trials. Such trials will closely resemble in execution Paris’s new electric car hire/share scheme Autolib, according to the makers. Trials begin in autumn this year in cities such as Bilbao, Malmo and Boston.