Hiriko
Hiriko Fold

Why it matters

The Hiriko is a two-seat electric city car whose chassis folds so that it takes up less kerb space, developed from the CityCar concept of the MIT Media Lab by a group of small Basque companies. Its four wheels each hold a drive motor and can be steered, allowing very tight manoeuvres, and the driver and passenger enter through the front. It was meant for car-sharing fleets rather than private buyers.

How rare is it?

Six separate kinds of rarity – never combined into one number.

Each kind of rarity is rated separately and never combined.

Production

Every figure says what it counts.

Independent counts (e.g. engine and colour) are never combined into a calculated figure. Surviving examples are never presented as original production.

History

The first Hiriko prototype was unveiled in Berlin on 27 May 2010 together with MIT, and the European Commission building in Brussels hosted a presentation in January 2012, where the Commission president inspected the car. By late 2012 the consortium was reported to have built about 20 vehicles for testing, with a budget of about 87 million dollars.

In October 2012 Deutsche Bahn announced a pilot to test the Hiriko Fold in its Berlin car-sharing network from 2013, and one Spanish report gave spring 2013 as the start of production and 2014 for deliveries. In May 2013 Basque radio reported that the project was at risk because its private promoters had not found investors; the cached pages end there and state no production run.

Technical specifications

Engine

Transmission & drivetrain

Chassis, body & dimensions

Performance

“Not yet verified” means no source has been checked for that value yet. Nothing is estimated to fill a gap.

Sources

Each number links to the exact facts it supports.

1. 1
   Hiriko 'folding' EV will be produced for German car-sharing project next year Level C

   • 20 test vehicles reported built by late 2012 (about 20, citing a New York Times report)

   Accessed 2026-11-13
2. 2
   Hiriko electric city car folds up to save space Level C Wired UK · 2012-01-26

   • drive motors hide inside each of the four wheels
   • even when unfolded it's just 2.5 metres long

   Accessed 2026-11-13
3. 3
   The Folding Electric Car Level C KOMPAS.com · 2012-01-30

   • weighs less than 500kg

   Accessed 2026-11-13