The range comprises three vehicles, comprising a three-seat short wheelbase variant and two long wheelbase versions, one with four seats and the other as a van, with a 1,500 litre cargo area. Not only will this be the first time all three have been exhibited in the UK, but it will be the first time members of the public will be able to drive them.

Each vehicle is powered by a 24bhp electric motor, giving a 68mph top speed. The batteries can be fully recharged in five hours, giving a range of between 75 and 80 hours. Prices start at £22,000 after the £5,000 government subsidy.

Head of UK sales at mia, Richard Deslandes, said: ‘The mia has been designed with cities like London firmly in mind and we consider the UK as a priority market for us (alongside France and Germany).

‘We’ve been overwhelmed by the response we’ve received since we launched in Geneva and now have 3000 confirmed orders. Production started in June and we will be producing 4000 vehicles this year to meet this initial demand. We hope to ramp up production at our factory in Cerizay, France, to a total capacity of about 14,000 by the end of 2012.’

The mia range was designed by Murat Günak, the Istanbul-born former head of design at Volkswagen and the designer behind the Passat CC, first shape Mercedes-Benz SLK and C-Class and Peugeot 206 CC, 307 and 607.

David Wilkie, design partner at mia, said: “Working on the mia project was like reinventing the car itself. It hasn’t been designed to look swoopy and fast, it’s designed to be practical and likeable.

‘A lot of cars are derivatives of mainstream cars but this is all new and perfect for big cities. It will undoubtedly become harder, and maybe even illegal, to drive petrol cars in downtown urban areas, so electric city cars like the mia have enormous potential.’