Following a tip off this morning from no less than Tony Marshall himself; I have finally found a lead on the background of these cars! Called the City Wheels project, it turns out Coventry Transport Museum has one deep in their vehicle store, and their collection website has this to say about it;
1987 City Wheels Electric Car
Location In Museum: Store
This vehicle and its support systems were designed for moving round city centres, large factories and airports. The system was designed as an alternative to private and hire car use. Its benefits would have included low running costs, little noise, virtually no pollution and a solution to parking problems.
To pay for the hire of a vehicle a credit card system was suggested. The user would wipe a credit card through a point on the relay terminal and would be billed automatically. The relay station would accommodate up to 16 cars and would recharge their batteries in 30 minutes. The car has an on-board computer which would control all aspects of the vehicle’s hire, including constant monitoring of the battery.
A number of cities, including Coventry, were interested in adopting this system for inner city use. Unfortunately the parent company, City Wheels Limited, never received the financial support needed and the schemes never came to fruition.
Methinks there's certainly a story to be told here....