It is one of the crucial essential merchandise of current instances, and it went on sale outdoors China for the primary time this week. The Felo M1 is a folding bike that nearly completely mimics the capabilities of Honda’s Eighties two-stroke Motocompo, with out the petrol and oil odor … and it has a giant battery and an influence outlet that opens up myriad new prospects as a transportable energy financial institution.
Although Chinese language EV Firm Felo had proven the product in China, when the Japanese distributor introduced gross sales final month, the Felo M1 was carrying a price ticket of JPY 380,000 (round US$2,800).
When the M1 was launched to the huge Thai market this week on the forty fifth Bangkok Worldwide Motor Present, the worth tag was THB 59,000 which converts to US$1,610 at at present’s trade charges.
New Atlas / Bangkok Worldwide Motor Present
At $1,600, the M1 turns into a compelling proposition as a last-mile trunk bike, and a transportable energy supply able to operating your home, nevertheless it’s massive promoting level must be that it does all of that whereas being a viable real-world short-distance bike.
![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](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/7c6ae6b/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3055x2155+0+0/resize/1361x960!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F69%2Fa6%2F7edd2336483887fc7c233d4e45a5%2Ffelotoo-m-composite-print-1-copy.jpg)
New Atlas / Bangkok Worldwide Motor Present
Now I didn’t get to trip the M1 nevertheless it appeared to have all of the attributes required for a comparatively comfy 20-minute journey on public again streets – and it has the velocity to place a whole lot of territory behind it in 20 minutes. Bike paths could be the perfect setting for one thing of this velocity, however there are various completely different native legal guidelines on energy ranges for bike path customers.
The wheelbase is lengthy sufficient to present you 45 km/h (28 mph) stability and the motor must be sufficient for an inside city setting. Principal roads would in all probability be unsafe on this bike merely due to the velocity differential with the visitors. The M1 will fortunately carry out small commutes reliably and it must be very cost-efficient to purchase 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.](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/597f548/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1920x1281+0+0/resize/1439x960!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F94%2F65%2Fb45246a74ec0a10341bdcf83520a%2Fcrowd-interest.jpg)
New Atlas / Bangkok Worldwide Motor Present
Of specific distinction to a completely functioning fold-down electrical bike on the Smartech (the Thai distributor for Felo) stand was the Honda stand that was lower than 100 meters away, providing showgoers check rides on the brand new Motocompacto.
The 18.7-kg (41-lb) Motocompacto takes up solely barely much less area than the M1 and with 490 watts, it isn’t too far behind the M1’s 700 watts, so on paper, it seems akin to the M1. In actuality, it is not!
The Motocompacto was being ably demonstrated by a male mannequin in mild gray slacks, white canvas sneakers and matching fluorescent white jacket. This could be appropriate clothes for the Workplace Grand Prix, however in a metropolis masking 1,570 sq. kilometers (600 sq. miles) with a giant smog drawback and footpaths that resemble impediment programs, these garments could be trashed inside 10 km.
Anyway, that basically has little to do with the Motocompacto as a result of everybody is aware of that if you find yourself using a bike, you choose up highway grime. The white canvas sneakers and white jacket have been only a tad too implausible, incongruent and disingenuous for my style.
![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.](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/e14e861/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1767x900+0+0/resize/1440x733!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F56%2Fe7%2Fe79418e0455892084ca44ca59db0%2Fmoto-tech223.jpg)
New Atlas / Bangkok Worldwide Motor Present
It is not a scarcity of grunt or energy that can let the Motocompacto down, however a scarcity of suspension, tires and brakes.
Going 24 km/h (15 mph) with out suspension on onerous tires shouldn’t be a nice expertise. It’s not one thing you’ll ever select to do once more as soon as you have achieved it. Doing it with out appropriate brakes and tires, and having such a small entrance wheel that may actually pitch you over the bars if it fell in a not-very-big gap. No thanks. The highest velocity of 24 km/h could be achievable, nevertheless it would not be secure at that velocity IMHO.
Indoors within the huge Bangkok Challenger Affect exhibition heart, with flooring as clean as a billiard desk, the Motocompacto’s greatest weak spot was not evident. In the actual world, this sucker will shake your fillings free.
Which brings us again to the Motocompo – the predecessor of the Motocompacto.
It’s the reference level for this market because it was the primary modern-day fold-up trunk-bike for the Honda Metropolis commuter automotive within the early Eighties. The Motocompo was a vastly completely different beast to the Felo M1 – for starters it ran a two-stroke motor so Honda may scale back the load sufficiently to fulfill its design targets.
Honda Motocompo (IM)
The above Motocompo offered not too long ago at Iconic Motorbikes for $4,173. We have included the video as a result of most individuals do not appear to comprehend the Motocompo was a two-stroke, and while you get previous the shiny colourful exterior and understand it is a two-stroke, a big a part of the mystique drops away.
As a lot as I really like two-strokes in racing bikes, the two-stroke motor shouldn’t be the right alternative for a transportation equipment and it might have pained Honda founder Soichiro Honda significantly to have such a outstanding product utilizing a two-stroke motor.
Seen in that mild, Honda’s choice to stop manufacturing of the long-lasting Motocompo trunk-bike in 1983 is comprehensible. In three years it offered 55,000 items, which isn’t an insignificant quantity, simply not what Honda hoped for with an progressive product.
The entire absence of any substitute throughout the ensuing 40 years is mystifying.
As an everyday attendee on the Tokyo Motor Present throughout that timeframe, I witnessed greater than a dozen prototypes that Honda had designed and constructed for motor exhibits, it is simply that none of them ever obtained previous the idea 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.](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/e29c338/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1800x1193+0+0/resize/1440x954!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fc8%2F54%2F297be34849ca826d669e216b330e%2F2001-honda-caixaccivybb.jpg)
New Atlas / Bangkok Worldwide Motor Present
That is the Honda Unibox idea, which had the capability to hold fold-up bikes in its doorways. There was provision for 2 various kinds of fold-up electrical bikes, however the Caixa Idea specifically folded down into a really 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.](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/485d8ed/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1920x1764+0+0/resize/1045x960!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F0d%2Fb3%2Fe250a3d04b23bff52499801229d1%2Fmuddafukka.jpg)
New Atlas / Bangkok Worldwide Motor Present
The common look of Honda electrical fold-up bikes on the Tokyo Present has all the time led us to imagine there was a Honda-like resolution coming for this market want, however the Motorcompacto was a disappointment. My vote for probably the most believable of the prototypes was the Motorcompo beneath.
![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.](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/6eabff9/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1347x919+0+0/resize/1347x919!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8c%2F99%2F486223e144edbe8eb544392529ed%2Fdownload.jpeg)
New Atlas / Bangkok Worldwide Motor Present
Now we may go on concerning the lack of an electrical fold-up bike from Honda, however the different Japanese producers have additionally proven a lot of fold-up idea EVs in that point too. If these outdated Japanese ideas are of curiosity to you, would possibly we recommend you check out this text: Twin-mode transport – the pattern accelerates. The article incorporates over 180 pictures of ideas and former makes an attempt to provide fold-up private transportation. It was written 12 years in the past
![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.](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/e1fad69/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1920x1012+0+0/resize/1440x759!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F87%2Fc2%2Fb9be6c75423092b29f2ba8ff4adb%2Fyamaha-bobby-2007-composite.jpg)
We do not know why we have not seen a industrial fold-up EV from Japan but, nevertheless it actually would not matter any extra as a result of we count on the M1 will fill that area of interest fairly properly with such a modest entry worth, and it might become the product that places Felo on the worldwide map. Relaxation assured, Felo seems competent, technology-driven and fiercely aggressive, and it is onerous to see Japan developing with a aggressive product with a $1,600 worth level.
Anyway, I have not had a possibility to trip one, however after 50 years of doing it professionally, I’m assured it really works as marketed.
The M1 has each entrance and rear suspension and semi-balloon tires that add additional consolation on the inevitable tough surfaces one will encounter on-road, off-road and even on-footpath in many of the world’s nations. That entrance 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".](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/1c169e8/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1826x1217+0+0/resize/1440x960!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fd2%2F03%2Fc3074ca044f49c83032436d393d0%2F434396171-122132837366197947-7636011906545252284-n.jpg)
New Atlas / Bangkok Worldwide Motor Present
Why the Felo M1 is essential
Civilization is about to attain yet one more essential tipping level – the place greater than 50% of the world’s inhabitants lives in residences. Europe as an entire will move that time inside two years. Spain and Germany already home greater than two-thirds of their inhabitants in residences, and as a cost- and space-effective way of life, there’s an inevitability about what the typical residence of the longer term goes to appear to be all over the place on the planet.
Residence residing IS humanity’s future.
The power to have the ability to home a mobility machine in your residence could be moderately anticipated to develop into an essential shopping for standards a decade or two from now.
Felo now has the primary mover benefit.
![The Felotoo (Felo M1) brochure being handed out at the Bangkok International Motor Show](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/841cf72/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1526x2048+0+0/resize/715x960!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fd9%2F2e%2F308cab3844fb99ba445ebadb5522%2F426724089-122112327842197947-9114619279280720092-n.jpg)