Urban Transport

The $1,600 folding electric motorcycle and portable powerbank

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The smile on his face suggests he could bench-press it too. Lighter than it looks and with so many ways in which it can enhance one's lifestyle ... particularly if you live somewhere where the power goes down regularly. This little sucker will keep your home going for an hour or two if you get frugal with the consumption.
New Atlas / Bangkok International Motor Show
The smile on his face suggests he could bench-press it too. Lighter than it looks and with so many ways in which it can enhance one's lifestyle ... particularly if you live somewhere where the power goes down regularly. This little sucker will keep your home going for an hour or two if you get frugal with the consumption.
New Atlas / Bangkok International Motor Show
I watched from a distance as the crowd kept descending on the Felo M1 and asking lots of questions about its added functionality over an existing scooter and the reduction in costs. It quickly became obvious that almost everyone perceived the M1 fitting into their lifestyle differently.
New Atlas / Bangkok International Motor Show
I took a real close look at every aspect of the Felotoo and I was very impressed. The quality is exceptional, as is the design.
New Atlas / Bangkok International Motor Show
The Honda Motocompo sold from 1981 to 1983 and you can see from the local advertising in Japan at the time, the needs Honda was fulfilling are exactly the same ones that Felotoo will fulfil (minus the powerbank). Honda had sold only 53,000 Motocompos when it ended production in 1983 - that's 41 years ago and the need for a viable electric replacement to the Motocompo would appear to have been growing and unfulfilled, ever since.
New Atlas / Bangkok International Motor Show
Right time, right price, right functionality. We expect very strong sales.
New Atlas / Bangkok International Motor Show
This is what makes the Felotoo so much more useful - a power outlet.
New Atlas / Bangkok International Motor Show
Whether it is a last 50-mile transport device you can keep in your car, or a motorcycle small enough to take home to your apartment every night, combined with the functionality of a portable powerbank, Felo was keen to help showgoers realize the flexibility of this effectively new electric multi-tool appliance
New Atlas / Bangkok International Motor Show
With a claimed range of 60 miles, that gives you 20 miles of freedom to roam almost anywhere with a safety margin for the return journey. No petrol, no oil, no smell. Small and light enough to be worth packing for any trip.
New Atlas / Bangkok International Motor Show
The Felotoo (Felo M1) brochure being handed out at the Bangkok International Motor Show
This was another Honda concept shown at the Tokyo Motor Show. The Bulldog carried two fold-up electric motorcycles behind the rear seats and the tailgate became the ramp to roll them out. As you can see, it would be hard to get a motorcycle to fold any smaller. These and many more electric concepts were covered in this extensive article from 2012.
New Atlas / Bangkok International Motor Show
Honda has been designing fold-up electric bikes for decades, regularly trotting out its latest ideas as concepts at the Tokyo Motor Show. The above electric fold-up motorcycle is a concept Honda displayed in Tokyo more than two decades ago. These and many more electric concepts were covered in this extensive article from 2012.
New Atlas / Bangkok International Motor Show
Turn all the shiny bits carbon black and you have a purpose-built silent mobility device for special forces. Those big grab handles mean you can effectively take one of these anywhere you want to go. We can also see one of these becoming quite a spectacle once the accessory market comes to grips with the bike's detachable panels and "exoskeleton".
New Atlas / Bangkok International Motor Show
One of the many fold-up electric motorcycles that have been shown by Honda as concepts at the Tokyo Motor Show over the last decade. Given this one was named "Motorcompo" (and the original was the "Motocompo"), we're guessing that production must have been close.
New Atlas / Bangkok International Motor Show
Honda was giving showgoers the opportunity to ride the Motocompacto. Those who tried it were amazed at its torque and rideability but I fear for the Motocompacto in the real world as it doesn't have effective suspension.
New Atlas / Bangkok International Motor Show
At left is the Yamaha Bobby Concept from 2007. Two other Yamaha folding electric motorcycle concepts from 20 years ago demonstrate Yamaha was clearly thinking about new and better ways to fold a motorcycle.
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It's one of the most important products of recent times, and it went on sale outside China for the first time this week. The Felo M1 is a folding motorcycle that almost perfectly mimics the capabilities of Honda's 1980s two-stroke Motocompo, without the petrol and oil smell ... and it has a big battery and a power outlet that opens up myriad new possibilities as a portable power bank.

Though Chinese EV Company Felo had shown the product in China, when the Japanese distributor announced sales last month, the Felo M1 was carrying a price tag of JPY 380,000 (around US$2,800).

When the M1 was introduced to the massive Thai marketplace this week at the 45th Bangkok International Motor Show, the price tag was THB 59,000 which converts to US$1,610 at today's exchange rates.

Right time, right price, right functionality. We expect very strong sales.
New Atlas / Bangkok International Motor Show

At $1,600, the M1 becomes a compelling proposition as a last-mile trunk bike, and a portable power source capable of running your house, but it's big selling point should be that it does all of that while being a viable real-world short-distance motorcycle.

Whether it is a last 50-mile transport device you can keep in your car, or a motorcycle small enough to take home to your apartment every night, combined with the functionality of a portable powerbank, Felo was keen to help showgoers realize the flexibility of this effectively new electric multi-tool appliance
New Atlas / Bangkok International Motor Show

Now I did not get to ride the M1 but it seemed to have all the attributes required for a relatively comfortable 20-minute journey on public back streets - and it has the speed to put a lot of territory behind it in 20 minutes. Bike paths would be the ideal environment for something of this speed, but there are many different local laws on power levels for bike path users.

The wheelbase is long enough to give you 45 km/h (28 mph) stability and the motor should be enough for an inner urban environment. Main roads would probably be unsafe on this bike simply because of the speed differential with the traffic. The M1 will happily perform small commutes reliably and it should be very cost-efficient to buy and run.

I watched from a distance as the crowd kept descending on the Felo M1 and asking lots of questions about its added functionality over an existing scooter and the reduction in costs. It quickly became obvious that almost everyone perceived the M1 fitting into their lifestyle differently.
New Atlas / Bangkok International Motor Show

Of particular contrast to a fully functioning fold-down electric motorcycle on the Smartech (the Thai distributor for Felo) stand was the Honda stand that was less than 100 meters away, offering showgoers test rides on the new Motocompacto.

The 18.7-kg (41-lb) Motocompacto takes up only slightly less space than the M1 and with 490 watts, it is not too far behind the M1's 700 watts, so on paper, it looks comparable to the M1. In reality, it isn't!

The Motocompacto was being ably demonstrated by a male model in light grey slacks, white canvas sneakers and matching fluorescent white jacket. This might be suitable clothing for the Office Grand Prix, but in a city covering 1,570 square kilometers (600 square miles) with a big smog problem and footpaths that resemble obstacle courses, those clothes would be trashed inside 10 km.

Anyway, that really has little to do with the Motocompacto because everyone knows that when you are riding a motorcycle, you pick up road grime. The white canvas sneakers and white jacket were just a tad too implausible, incongruent and disingenuous for my taste.

Honda was giving showgoers the opportunity to ride the Motocompacto. Those who tried it were amazed at its torque and rideability but I fear for the Motocompacto in the real world as it doesn't have effective suspension.
New Atlas / Bangkok International Motor Show

It's not a lack of grunt or power that will let the Motocompacto down, but a lack of suspension, tires and brakes.

Going 24 km/h (15 mph) without suspension on hard tires is not a pleasant experience. It is not something you would ever choose to do again once you've done it. Doing it without suitable brakes and tires, and having such a small front wheel that might literally pitch you over the bars if it fell in a not-very-big hole. No thanks. The top speed of 24 km/h might be achievable, but it wouldn't be safe at that speed IMHO.

Indoors in the massive Bangkok Challenger Impact exhibition center, with floors as smooth as a billiard table, the Motocompacto's biggest weakness was not evident. In the real world, this sucker will shake your fillings loose.

Which brings us back to the Motocompo - the predecessor of the Motocompacto.

It is the reference point for this marketplace as it was the first modern-day fold-up trunk-bike for the Honda City commuter car in the early 1980s. The Motocompo was a vastly different beast to the Felo M1 - for starters it ran a two-stroke motor so Honda could reduce the weight sufficiently to meet its design targets.

The above Motocompo sold recently at Iconic Motorbikes for $4,173. We've included the video because most people don't seem to realize the Motocompo was a two-stroke, and when you get past the shiny colorful exterior and realize it's a two-stroke, a large part of the mystique drops away.

As much as I love two-strokes in racing bikes, the two-stroke motor is not the correct choice for a transportation appliance and it would have pained Honda founder Soichiro Honda considerably to have such a prominent product using a two-stroke motor.

Viewed in that light, Honda's decision to cease production of the iconic Motocompo trunk-bike in 1983 is understandable. In three years it sold 55,000 units, which is not an insignificant amount, just not what Honda was hoping for with an innovative product.

The complete absence of any replacement during the ensuing 40 years is mystifying.

As a regular attendee at the Tokyo Motor Show during that time frame, I witnessed more than a dozen prototypes that Honda had designed and built for motor shows, it's just that none of them ever got past the concept stage.

Honda has been designing fold-up electric bikes for decades, regularly trotting out its latest ideas as concepts at the Tokyo Motor Show. The above electric fold-up motorcycle is a concept Honda displayed in Tokyo more than two decades ago. These and many more electric concepts were covered in this extensive article from 2012.
New Atlas / Bangkok International Motor Show

That's the Honda Unibox concept, which had the capacity to carry fold-up motorcycles in its doors. There was provision for two different types of fold-up electric bikes, but the Caixa Concept in particular folded down into a very compact unit.

This was another Honda concept shown at the Tokyo Motor Show. The Bulldog carried two fold-up electric motorcycles behind the rear seats and the tailgate became the ramp to roll them out. As you can see, it would be hard to get a motorcycle to fold any smaller. These and many more electric concepts were covered in this extensive article from 2012.
New Atlas / Bangkok International Motor Show

The regular appearance of Honda electric fold-up motorcycles at the Tokyo Show has always led us to believe there was a Honda-like solution coming for this market need, but the Motorcompacto was a disappointment. My vote for the most plausible of the prototypes was the Motorcompo below.

One of the many fold-up electric motorcycles that have been shown by Honda as concepts at the Tokyo Motor Show over the last decade. Given this one was named "Motorcompo" (and the original was the "Motocompo"), we're guessing that production must have been close.
New Atlas / Bangkok International Motor Show

Now we could go on about the lack of an electric fold-up motorcycle from Honda, but the other Japanese manufacturers have also shown a number of fold-up concept EVs in that time too. If these old Japanese concepts are of interest to you, might we suggest you take a look at this article: Dual-mode transport - the trend accelerates. The article contains over 180 images of concepts and previous attempts to produce fold-up personal transportation. It was written 12 years ago

At left is the Yamaha Bobby Concept from 2007. Two other Yamaha folding electric motorcycle concepts from 20 years ago demonstrate Yamaha was clearly thinking about new and better ways to fold a motorcycle.

We don't know why we haven't seen a commercial fold-up EV from Japan yet, but it really doesn't matter any more because we expect the M1 will fill that niche rather nicely with such a modest entry price, and it may turn out to be the product that puts Felo on the global map. Rest assured, Felo looks competent, technology-driven and fiercely competitive, and it's hard to see Japan coming up with a competitive product with a $1,600 price point.

Anyway, I haven't had an opportunity to ride one, but after 50 years of doing it professionally, I am confident it works as advertised.

The M1 has both front and rear suspension and semi-balloon tires that add further comfort on the inevitable rough surfaces one will encounter on-road, off-road and even on-footpath in most of the world's countries. That front disc brake is reassuring too.

Turn all the shiny bits carbon black and you have a purpose-built silent mobility device for special forces. Those big grab handles mean you can effectively take one of these anywhere you want to go. We can also see one of these becoming quite a spectacle once the accessory market comes to grips with the bike's detachable panels and "exoskeleton".
New Atlas / Bangkok International Motor Show

Why the Felo M1 is important

Civilization is about to achieve yet another important tipping point - where more than 50% of the world's population lives in apartments. Europe as a whole will pass that point within two years. Spain and Germany already house more than two-thirds of their inhabitants in apartments, and as a cost- and space-effective way of living, there’s an inevitability about what the average home of the future is going to look like everywhere on the planet.

Apartment living IS humanity's future.

The ability to be able to house a mobility device in your apartment can be reasonably expected to become an important buying criteria a decade or two from now.

Felo now has the first mover advantage.

The Felotoo (Felo M1) brochure being handed out at the Bangkok International Motor Show

View gallery - 15 images
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4 comments
Global
Defining the last mile, on either end, from the apartment, down the elevator or stairs, along the street to the bus, train, or Hahaha car which would likely go door to door. I leisurely walk several kilometers for exercise, humanity will likely do the same, the expense, resources this gadget gobbles up, and needs to be kept somewhere when not in use is part of the problem mankind thinks they need.
Daishi
In a lot of ways, I think the niche has been mostly met by ebikes. Let's pick the RadRover for a point of comparison. It is $1600 in US so likely more affordable, it's 33 kg instead of 45 kg so it's lighter. The battery is smaller (14 Ah vs 20 Ah) but it has more range because it's a hybrid with human inputting some energy. It has a front suspension and 26" x 4" tires so it handles bumps and potholes. It has about the same top speed and is legal on roads and bike trails. For people who have upstairs apartments "walk assist" can be used to push the bike up stairs but carrying the M1 up a couple flights of stairs would be a challenge. Ebikes do the same thing and maintenance is probably easier because it's still mostly a bicycle.
anthony88
I ride a bicycle around where I live all the time. While I'd like something like this to make getting around easier, I'm worried about getting around on two wheels later in life. Anything heavier than these two-wheelers is going to be difficult to lug into an apartment. Anything with 3-4 wheels will be impossible. If they can make them so that they expand sideways, with the two thick wheels being two sets of two thinner wheels side-by-side, instead, they could make a wider vehicle, but then the weight will increase and make it harder to carry into an apartment. (The Motocompacto looks like a powered suitcase I saw being ridden by some kids at an airport, recently.)
mediabeing
I'd like, very much, an electric 2 wheeler that could carry groceries. I think that lets the Felo out.
Even I can see that the Felo seat requires redesign.
I liked the imagined ideas of the Yamaha folks.