No, it’s far from the best-looking ride you can use for short commutes around the city. In fact, it absolutely looks weird. With a collapsible design that lets it pack down into a large briefcase, though, the Honda Motocompacto definitely brings a unique utility to your personal transport options.
That’s right, this electric transport device can collapse into a briefcase form factor, allowing you to carry it by hand for taking anywhere you go. Not only is this easy to take inside trains and carry up a flight of stairs, you can even stash it under your desk at work, put it in the boot of your car for emergency purposes, or hide it under your bed at home.
The Hondo Motocompacto is, basically, an electric personal transport device that crams everything inside a slim box frame that measures 29.3 x 21.1 x 3.7 inches (width x height x depth) when folded, with a handle on top allowing you to carry it like an oversized briefcase. To make it rideable, you simply pull out the seat from one corner, fold out the handlebars right next to it, and pull out the two wheels at the bottom corners. After that, it’s ready to ride.
Equipped with a 490W electric motor, the vehicle can travel at speeds of up to 15 mph, all while accelerating from standstill to 15 mph in just seven seconds. A built-in rechargeable 6.8Ah battery allows it to cover up to 12 miles between charges, so while you won’t be doing any long rides on this thing, it should have enough range to cover your daily commute to work (or a ride to the nearest service station if your car conks out during a drive). It charges pretty fast, too, allowing you to fill the battery up in just 3.5 hours, so you can ride it to work, plug in, and have a fully-charged battery well before you go back home.
The Hondo Motocompacto comes with an LED display that shows basic riding information, so you can keep tabs of how fast you’re going and your real-time battery levels, as well as a headlight, so you can illuminate the road when riding at night. This isn’t an ebike, by the way so there’s no chain drive or pedals. Instead, you only get a pair of foot pegs to rest your feet on when riding, so you can’t push it any faster than 15 mph during those times you’re in a hurry. There’s also a kickstand right between the foot pegs, in case you want to get off the ride without having to collapse it.
Do note, this thing isn’t light, coming in at 41 pounds, so it won’t be a good time carrying it around if you’re gallivanting on foot. It’s pretty big, after all, looking even bigger than that rideable suitcase with motorized wheels from a while back. From what we can tell, there’s no shoulder strap option, either, so you’ll definitely want to find a place to set this down unless you want to tire out your arms and hands.
The Hondo Motocompacto is coming to Honda and Mazda dealerships this coming November. Price is $995.
