Honda is bringing back one of its greatest mobility ideas in the age of electrification and sustainability, at least in concept form.
Say hello to the Sustaina-C and Pocket duo that was revealed at this year’s Japan Mobility Show as a sort of modern reinterpretation of the City and Motocompo pack that was offered in Japan back in the 1980s.
But while the City and accompanying folding scooter from 40 years ago were powered by gasoline, the Sustaina-C hatchback and Pocket scooter are all about electricity. With this being said, the Nippon carmaker that also gave us a glimpse of a next-gen electric Prelude went one step further in the name of environmental friendliness and made both the car and the scooter out of an acrylic resin that is recycled and reused.
There’s little to no information about both vehicles, apart from a couple of press release paragraphs that talk about everything but technical specs or how the nifty compact scooter fits in the cute, Honda E-like hatchback.
The Japanese marque says that the materials and resources that are used for today’s mobility products are limited and that they’ll become harder to get a hold of sooner or later, which is why it thought about making a pair of electric vehicles that can kickstart something called “resource circulation” with their recycled and recyclable body panels.
Honda City hatchback and Motocompo foldable scooter
And now you might be thinking, “Wait, didn’t the Motocompo get a modern reinterpretation?” And you’d be right, as Honda recently launched the Motocompacto foldable e-scooter, but by the looks of it, the Pocket scooter concept is even smaller than the new Motocompacto.
Plus, it comes as an accessory to the Sustaina-C, just like the City and Motocompo were offered in the 1980s, whereas the Motocompacto is offered as a standalone product. At the same time, though, the Motocompacto can be bought with real money, with a starting price of $995, while the Pocket is just a concept for now, with no word on whether it will ever be available for sale.
Nevertheless, it’s a pretty cool idea, just like it was four decades ago, only this time around there are no nasty emissions involved: you can drive your car to a parking lot that’s nearest to your destination and then hop onto the scooter for that last-mile leg of the journey.