New Honda EV Hatch and Scooter Concepts Evoke Motocompo and City

• Within the Eighties, Honda packaged a folding scooter with its Metropolis subcompact automobile. Now, here is that very same idea up to date for the EV period.
• Each autos are proof-of-concept for a brand new simply recyclable acrylic building.
• Particulars on energy and vary are skinny, however the need issue is excessive.

Honda’s Motocompo was a folding scooter designed to slot in the trunk of the corporate’s Metropolis subcompact automobile. It is such a enjoyable and quirky machine that it is change into extremely collectible, and Sizzling Wheels even made a scale-sized Metropolis Turbo II with a few plastic Motocompos tucked in again. Now Honda is teasing an all-electric return of this well-loved accent.

Honda has shared photographs of a brand new small EV idea for the 2023 Tokyo auto present, and the electrical scooter that goes with it. (Honda additionally plans to point out off a brand new EV sports activities automobile, maybe a possible alternative for the NSX, however that will not be revealed for a couple of extra weeks.)

First, the automobile, which is known as the SUSTAINA-C. Constructed from an acrylic that is designed to be simply recycled, it is a enjoyable and pleasant wanting little two-door hatchback. Whereas that is solely an idea, it is arduous to not want for roads stuffed with glad little vehicles like this relatively than the fashionable sea of angry-looking crossovers.

The scooter is even higher, and we particularly love the title. It is referred to as the Honda Pocket, and it is likewise made out of the identical recyclable acrylic. There are not any particulars on powertrains for both automobile, however the considered parking a zippy little Honda hatchback, popping a scooter out of the trunk, and zipping off to your favourite city ramen joint is an interesting one. Clearly this combo would work higher in parking-starved Tokyo than Los Angeles, however as city facilities get denser, the thought of onboard last-mile mobility makes extra sense.

Honda can be displaying a scooter that’s rather more pragmatic: the SC e idea. This pretty conventional-looking scooter is fitted with two of Honda’s swappable Cell Energy Packs, and it could be a game-changer for Tokyo site visitors. Scooters are already a well-liked mass mobility possibility, and the power to swap batteries at a charging station would open up EV possession for residence dwellers.

Search for extra info nonetheless to return throughout the subsequent few weeks about Honda’s reveals for the Tokyo auto present.

Contributing Editor

Brendan McAleer is a contract author and photographer based mostly in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British vehicles, got here of age within the golden period of Japanese sport-compact efficiency, and commenced writing about vehicles and folks in 2008. His explicit curiosity is the intersection between humanity and equipment, whether or not it’s the racing profession of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught each of his younger daughters the right way to shift a guide transmission and is grateful for the excuse they supply to be perpetually shopping for Sizzling Wheels.