Motorcycles

Honda patents a ride-on range extender for EVs

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The 80s-era Honda City and Motocompo on display at Honda Collection Hall, Motegi
The iconic trunk-dwelling fold-out Motocompo scooter could make a fascinating return in the EV age as a rideable range extender
MikaPr65 / Wikimedia Commons - CC BY-SA 4.0
Honda's charming print ads for the City/Motocompo in the 1980s
Honda
The 80s-era Honda City and Motocompo on display at Honda Collection Hall, Motegi
New patent drawings show a Motocompo-style design repurposed as an EV range extender
Honda via Cycle World
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I'm fascinated by products you didn't know you wanted, until you saw them. One of my favorite examples is the Honda Motocompo, a cute, foldable motorcycle designed to fit in the trunk of the compact Honda City car from the 1980s. It was a neat little multi-mode two-stage transport idea – drive into town, park where it's cheap, pull out your mini-scooter for the last mile.

Now, four decades later, the idea could make a comeback – this time, doing double duty as a range-extending ride-on generator that can top up an EV as you drive. That's if these recently unearthed patents from the Japanese automaker – spotted in July by our old colleague Ben Purvis at Cycle World – are anything to go by.

The idea behind a range extender for EVs is to have a small gas-powered engine that you could fuel up and use to keep your electric car running when there's no charging port nearby. Typically they're super-efficient generators designed for maximum efficiency in that single job of turning gasoline into useable electrons.

The now-discontinued Chevy Volt and BMW i3 EVs had modest battery ranges, but could take you a lot farther with their range extenders. The 2019 i3 managed just 126 miles (203 km) on battery power, while its extender allowed it to cover a total of 200 miles (322 km).

According to the recent patent, Honda's twist on the concept is to pack that generator engine into a portable motorcycle – a la the Motocompo – so you have the option to ditch your car and ride on two wheels whenever you like.

New patent drawings show a Motocompo-style design repurposed as an EV range extender
Honda via Cycle World

As Purvis notes, the patent drawings feature the 1980s Honda City and its Motocompo in the trunk to illustrate the company's idea – although naturally, there are air intake and exhaust connectors, so it breathes in cold, fresh outdoor air and doesn't fill the cabin with exhaust fumes. Yeah, you'll be wanting to make sure those fittings are snug.

But Honda will have its work cut out for it when combining a range extender and ultra-compact motorcycle. For its i3, BMW had the luxury of fitting in a sizeable Kymco 647cc that put out 34 hp; Honda's 80s-era Motocompo had a tiny 49cc mill good for just 2.5hp. Something tells me that won't quite cut it given today's standards for EV range.

Honda's charming print ads for the City/Motocompo in the 1980s
Honda

And while I'm charmed to bits by the idea of a pop-out motorcycle that you can launch from wherever you park, Honda is currently still testing the waters with these ultra-compact suitcase bikes. Last November, it began selling the Motocompacto, a US$995 electric reincarnation of the Motocompo that tops out at 15 mph (24 km/h), does 12 miles (19 km) on a 3.5-hour charge, and weighs 41 lb (18.5 kg).

The original Motocompo was twice as expensive, twice as heavy, and hard to fold and unfold. The new electric one – a standalone vehicle that's not packaged with a car – can be packed away in 30 seconds, and people seem to like it for what it's built to do: first- and last-mile rides in a tiny form factor. And of course, being electric in its own right, it's hardly going to be much use as a range extender.

Ultimately, like many manufacturer patents, it looks like a long shot. But this multipurpose Swiss Army scooter idea still tickles my imagination.

Source: Cycle World

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4 comments
WillyDoodle
As battery technology improves it's not hard to envision a car sold with, say, 250 miles range (or even less for a pure urban commuter), but engineered with a method to accept a range extending battery into the system for the few days a year (for the majority of drivers) where more range is needed.
veryken
Okay. A rideable two-wheeled generator that fits in the trunk. But what if the purpose of your vehicle is to haul stuff placed comfortably next to the generator? You gonna carry that load on your back on two wheels?
Daishi
I think the idea might be better suited for a truck bed with a built-in storage compartment or as cargo. For me having the motor/generator running inside the enclosed cabin of a car would be a hangup for me. Yes there would be a connector to external air but if it gets lose or if you get into a fender bender that dislodges it the process of sending you into the long sleep is almost automatic. With a smaller better sealed space than something like a garage the air would become dangerous in seconds if it disconnected.
MCG
This is pretty neat. I wonder if two of them could lay flat under a subfloor say in the bed of a small truck. I agree with @WillyDoodle, this concept may really flourish as battery tech improves. I saw a range extender a few years ago proposed for EV's in a trailer format. While a lot of extra power could be packed that way, it is not nearly as compact as Honda's product.