The manufacturer is also heading up the CINIT VERDE project, a public-private partnership between manufacturers, universities, research centres and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, aimed at supporting the development of a suitable electric vehicle infrastructure in the country.

For the trial, the two Spainish designed, developed and manufactured vehicles will be loaned to government institutions in Catalonia and Madrid who will use them as part of their everyday fleet. Data about how they are used will be fed back to SEAT and used to develop a production plug-in hybrid due in 2015, and battery-electric vehicle due the year afterwards under the company’s Ecomotive banner.

The Altea XL Electric Ecomotive uses a 115bhp, 199lb.ft electric motor powered by batteries under the rear seats. It loses no interior or boot space compared to the conventional car, and features a solar panel on the roof that recirculates fresh air around the cabin to reduce the load on the climate control when the car is in use.

Plug-in hybrid technology, meanwhile, will be tested in the Leon TwinDrive Ecomotive. This has an all-electric range of over 30 miles with a top speed of 75mph, but adds a conventional internal combustion engine for longer trips. SEAT is predicting fuel economy of 166mpg, with CO2 emissions equivalent to 39g/km.

SEAT president James Muir said: ‘Customers demand a more sustainable form of mobility, but their needs are diverse.  Therefore, we believe that a parallel strategy of developing two different technologies will put SEAT in the best position to meet their needs.’