Honda has long toyed with the idea of reviving the Motocompo, a foldable bike designed to reside in the trunk of the 1981 Honda City. A recently unearthed document shows that the dream is not only still alive, but serious enough to warrant a patent filing. Brilliantly updated for the modern age, the Motocompo now acts as both a bike and a power source for an electric vehicle.
About a year ago Honda came out with the electric Motocompacto, a foldable electric bike. It was a cool product but not tied to any specific vehicle in the way that the original Motocompo was linked with the City hatchback. Honda’s latest patent drawings, published by the USPTO in June 2024 and unearthed by The Drive, show a bike that’s a lot closer in design to the 1981 Motocompo. 
According to the patent filing summary, this new “saddle riding vehicle”, which we will call a Motocompo for convenience’s sake, is coupled with an electric vehicle. However, should the battery run low, the bike itself has an engine that can be used to charge the EV. Honda says that EVs are limited in accessing off-road locations like campsites, which typically don’t have a lot charging infrastructure. Thus, the Motocompo is their solution for “last mile connectivity”.
While the bike charges the car a fan will blow out exhaust gases, according to the patent. Presumably this Motocompo’s compartment will be a bit more isolated and airtight than that of the City, where it simply resided in the cargo area behind the second row, sharing air with the passengers. It should be noted that one of the patent drawings shows a car that’s very City-esque, though another shows a generic five-door crossover. It’s hard not to wonder if the Honda Sustainia-C concept from the 2023 Japan Mobility Show, which came with its own bike, might be under consideration for production.
Honda has been trying to revive the Motocompo in some fashion or another for over a decade. Back in 2011 they showed an electric bike called the Motor Compo. It was meant to be used with the Micro Commuter Concept and had a removable battery pack that could be carried into your home or office. Will this new generator-bike be the idea that finally puts the Motocompo back into production?
I find it curious, to say the least, that Honda is once again trying to remake an old concept. Looking at the reference links, I find it incredible that the Small Sports EV Concept (a la Honda beat) from 2011 materialized in the Honda n660 to die some time later. However, the compact moto version is meh, useful perhaps but with less feeling. and now with a combustion engine for another added use… it seems like too much effort to justify an idea of a working group. I feel that it is like the robotics area that after many years of work is closed, perhaps because it has reached an alley without ideas or applications. (it was said more for economics in a certain way)