In the 1980s, Honda created the Motocompo, a folding motorcycle designed to fit in the trunk of the Honda City: It was an idea of multi-mode transportation: you drove to the city, parked in a cheap place and traveled the last few kilometers on that mini scooter. Now, four decades later, the Japanese are taking up the idea, now with a double function, serving as a range extender that can recharge an electric vehicle while driving.
For now it is a patent, very curious. Range extenders in electric cars add a small gasoline engine that keeps the vehicle running when there are no charging ports nearby. These are generators designed to achieve maximum efficiency in their sole task of converting gasoline into electrons.
The idea reached the market in cars like the Chevrolet Volt or the BMW i3 and it was the Mazda MX-30 that rescued it in the R-EV version, which we analyzed as one of the most curious ways to have a plug-in hybrid:
According to the patent, Honda’s idea is to place that motor-generator on a portable motorcycle, in the style of the Motocompo, to have the option of ditching your car and traveling on two wheels whenever you want.
The patent drawings feature the 1980s Honda City and its Motocompo in the trunk to illustrate the idea. Obviously there are air inlet and outlet connectors, to have outside air and not fill the cabin with exhaust gases.
The original Motocompo was expensive, heavy and difficult to fold and take off. The brand launched an electric reincarnation a year ago (for $995, it reaches 24 km/h and travels 19 km on a charge), but of course, it would not be suitable for that range extender function.
Like other manufacturers’ patents, it seems like a risky bet, but this multi-use scooter idea may make sense… except when you think that it will pollute the urban environments where it could move.
Via: Cycle World
