Mark Megahan
Honda has the perfect compact transportation solution for young students and those who live in dense urban areas. You can scoot around in style on the Motocompacto which, everyone who’s seen it says, “looks like a roving suitcase.”
Compact enough to go anywhere
Honda has a new compact electric scooter which actually makes a lot of sense to the young audience of upwardly mobile students and professionals it’s targeted at.
They recently announced mass production of their “Motocampacto,” which, the engineers boast, “is designed to be foldable and lightweight.”
The gizmo is compact enough that the “handlebars and seat can be tucked into the suitcase-shaped main body of the vehicle.”
When not being driven, you can pull it around like one of those wheeled suitcases then fold the handlebars in for storage. You can charge the unit in either fully folded or fully extended configuration.
The main idea behind the compact transport system’s design is ease of transportation and storage. With a sporty top speed of 15 mph and a 12 mile range it’s perfect for zipping from the dorm to the library, or from the parking garage to your office building door.
Once at your destination, you can wheel it right through the lobby and into the elevator.
Affordable for anyone
Another thing which makes this such a great transportation solution, besides it’s compact design, it’s affordable to starving students. The suggested retail price is a mere $995. Those with a technical interest will be pleased to know that Motocompacto “can be fully charged in just 3.5 hours in both the folded and ready-to-ride configuration using a common 110 v outlet.”
Its “wheels and frames are made with heat-treated aluminum, and it has bright LED headlight and taillight, side reflectors, and a welded steel lock loop on the kickstand that is compatible with most bike locks.” It also “weighs around 41 lbs, comparable with how heavy a carry-on suitcase typically is.”
Fans may notice that the “Motocompacto is an updated, electric take on an early ’80s Honda design called the Motocompo.” That one ran on planet killing gasoline and “looked more like a handyman’s duffle bag in its condensed form.”
Back then, the idea was to make it compact enough to fit “the cargo space of the Honda City kei car, presumably so it could serve as a final mile solution, where it carried people to their destination beyond where they were allowed to park a car.” That didn’t turn out as practical then but the cleaner, electric version might just fit a growing niche of users.
As Honda relates, “Motocompacto is perfect for getting around cityscapes and college campuses. It was designed with rider comfort and convenience in mind with a cushy seat, secure grip foot pegs, on-board storage, a digital speedometer, a charge gauge and a comfortable carry handle.”
Adding to the compact design, “A clever phone app enables riders to adjust their personal settings, including lighting and ride modes, via Bluetooth.“
