Hiriko

Hiriko electric car
Hiriko Fold pre-production model
Overview
Manufacturer	Hiriko Driving Mobility
Assembly	Vitoria-Gasteiz
Body and chassis
Class	City car
Related	CityCar
Powertrain
Range	120 km (75 mi)
Dimensions
Length	maximum 2,500 mm (98.4 in)
Kerb weight	500 kg (1,100 lb)

The Hiriko is a folding two-seat urban electric car that was under development by the Hiriko Driving Mobility consortium in the Basque Country of northern Spain. The electric car was to be the commercial implementation of the CityCar project developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab since 2003. The name Hiriko comes from the Basque word for "urban" or "from the city".

Three versions were to be developed: the Fold microcar; the Alai, a convertible; and the Laga, a small truck. The Hiriko was to be designed specifically for short-distance urban carsharing programs and municipal fleets. A manufacturing trial aiming for 20 pre-production cars began in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, in July 2012. A pilot program was scheduled to take place in Germany in 2013 to integrate the Hiriko Fold into Deutsche Bahn's railway service to allow their customers the possibility of using a vehicle parked at the station with which to complete the last mile of the journey to their final destinations.

Production was planned for the second quarter of 2013 with retail deliveries initially scheduled to begin in 2014, at a price starting at €12,500 (US$16,400) plus battery leasing fees. In May 2013 the Hiriko consortium announced the project was having difficulties to continue with the commercial development phase due to lack of financing. Sixteen months after the January 2012 debut of the Hiriko the firm collapsed before the start of any production. Only one test vehicle and two semi finished ones were ever produced. In 2015 public prosecutors in Spain accused six businessmen involved in the project of fraud.

The concept behind the Hiriko urban electric car was originally conceived by William J. Mitchell and his Smart Cities Research Group at the MIT Media Lab in 2003 as the MIT Car and later the CityCar project. Upon William Mitchell's death, the project was led by Kent Larson, director of the Changing Places Research Group. The commercial development of the Hiriko began in 2010 in the Science park of Alava, Basque Country, by the Spanish consortium Hiriko Driving Mobility in collaboration with the Changing Places Group and the Spanish government, which provided about €15 million (US$18.5 million) in financial support.