The electric car was to be the commercial implementation of the CityCar project developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab since 2003.

[3][5] 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.

[6] 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.

[7][8] In May 2013 the Hiriko consortium announced the project was having difficulties to continue with the commercial development phase due to lack of financing.

[14] A production prototype of the Hiriko Fold was formally unveiled by the President of the European Commission José Manuel Durão Barroso in January 2012.

[16][17] The folding city car was invented in 1929 by Engelbert Zaschka, a three-wheeler with a single cylinder engine on the rear, which could be disassembled into three pieces.

[1][20][21] The consortium had plans to develop three versions: the Fold microcar, of which one demonstration car was completed; the Alai, a convertible; and the Laga, a small truck.

The agreement also included an initial phase in 2013 in which the Hiriko folding was to be tested and adapted for public use in Berlin, and an official and broader roll out was planned for 2014.

[6] The Hiriko Fold was unveiled in March 2013 at the Geneva Motor Show,[citation needed] and production was scheduled to begin during the second quarter of 2013.

[1][3] Among others, transport managers from the Basque biosphere reserve of Urdaibai, Ibiza, Hong Kong and Florianópolis in Brazil expressed interest in using the Hiriko in carsharing systems.