- In the 1980s, Honda packaged a folding scooter with its City subcompact car. Now, here’s that same concept updated for the EV era.
- Both vehicles are proof-of-concept for a new easily recyclable acrylic construction.
- Details on power and range are thin, but the want factor is high.
Honda’s Motocompo was a folding scooter designed to fit in the trunk of the company’s City subcompact car. It’s such a fun and quirky machine that it’s become highly collectible, and Hot Wheels even made a scale-sized City Turbo II with a couple of plastic Motocompos tucked in back. Now Honda is teasing an all-electric return of this well-loved accessory.
Honda has shared images of a new small EV concept for the 2023 Tokyo auto show, and the electric scooter that goes with it. (Honda also plans to show off a new EV sports car, perhaps a potential replacement for the NSX, but that won’t be revealed for a few more weeks.)
First, the car, which is called the SUSTAINA-C. Built from an acrylic that’s designed to be easily recycled, it’s a fun and friendly looking little two-door hatchback. While this is only a concept, it’s hard not to wish for roads full of happy little cars like this rather than the modern sea of angry-looking crossovers.
The scooter is even better, and we especially love the name. It’s called the Honda Pocket, and it’s likewise made out of the same recyclable acrylic. There are no details on powertrains for either vehicle, but the thought of parking a zippy little Honda hatchback, popping a scooter out of the trunk, and zipping off to your favorite urban ramen joint is an appealing one. Obviously this combo would work better in parking-starved Tokyo than Los Angeles, but as urban centers get denser, the idea of onboard last-mile mobility makes more sense.
Honda is also showing a scooter that is much more pragmatic: the SC e concept. This fairly conventional-looking scooter is fitted with two of Honda’s swappable Mobile Power Packs, and it would be a game-changer for Tokyo traffic. Scooters are already a popular mass mobility option, and the ability to swap batteries at a charging station would open up EV ownership for apartment dwellers.
Look for more information still to come within the next few weeks about Honda’s reveals for the Tokyo auto show.
Contributing Editor
Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels.