The pair are the latest additions an international fleet of the all-electric C30, which is already being leased to customers across Europe and demonstrated in Sweden and Belgium. Volvo Car Corporation said it hoped to gain insight into driver behaviour and expectations in China as a result of the programme.

Shanghai was named as a pilot city for the Chinese government’s electric vehicle study in January 2011, with Jiading named as a demonstration zone. Aimed at reducing the rapidly expanding car population’s dependency on oil, an infrastructure comprising 13,000 charging points and 15 battery swap stations are already under construction across the city.

Ni Yaomin, deputy governor of Jiading District, Shanghai, said: ‘The Volvo C30 is the first electric car from an international brand that will be presented and involved in various activities here. Its performance fulfills the expectations of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Municipal and District governments to make the demonstration zone a truly international one. It will promote cooperation and communication between international and domestic auto makers on new energy vehicles.’