Trials of the smart fortwo electric drive will begin before the end of the year, before they begin normal car2go operations in 2013. The company said it will charge the same prices as a petrol-powered fortwo, aiming to make it as affordable as possible to select an electric version.

Gernot Lobenberg, director of the Berlin agency for electromobility eMO, said: ‘We have set ourselves the goal of making Berlin a leading city for electric mobility in Europe, which is why it’s important for us to see that car2go is relying on electric vehicles as well from the very beginning.’