Have you been wishing that someone—maybe even Honda—would just go ahead and make an electric Motocompo already? If you have and you live in Japan, it seems like you’re in luck. Chinese EV maker Felo took the wraps off its brand-new M One folding electric scooter at the 2023 Tokyo Motorcycle Show at the end of March, 2023.
It’s not clear if Felo’s latest creation, which it’s marketing under a new sub-brand called Felotoo, boasts any involvement from Kymco. Felo’s previously introduced electric scooter models, the FW-06 and FW-03, were both produced in partnership with the mega Taiwanese OEM. However, we can tell you what we do know about the M One, which has so far only been announced a definite upcoming release in the Japanese market.
As you can see, it’s foldable, and it’s made to fit inside the trunk or hatch of a car—just like you’d expect from anything that could fairly be compared to a modern-day Motocompo. It has a wheelbase of 800 millimeters, or just under 31.5 inches. Length is 1,160 mm (45.7 in.), width is 560mm (22 in.), and vehicle height is 860mm (33.85 in.).
Gallery: Felo M One
Seat height is an extremely approachable 23.22 in., which means that even very small people could potentially hop aboard. Curb weight is 37 kilograms, or 81.5 pounds—which makes it unlikely that any small kids are hauling it out of the trunk for a sneaky ride without your knowledge.
The Felotoo M One utilizes a 48-volt, 20 amp-hour lithium battery pack, along with a 400-watt hub motor with a maximum output of one kilowatt. Total maximum battery capacity is one kilowatt-hour, and Felo gives an estimated range of about 100 kilometers on a single charge (about 62 miles).
The way it folds up, as demonstrated in a short video, is extremely simple. The rather robust-looking handlebar and stem fold neatly down and tuck away into the front. In the back, the saddle flips over and then slides into place, so the saddle is hidden away inside the hard shell of the minibike for transport.
Felo Technology CEO and founder Zhang Jingyi also wanted Tokyo Motorcycle Show attendees to note one other key feature of the M One: Its vehicle-to-load (V2L) discharge capability. For those unfamiliar, that’s just what it sounds like—you can think of the M One as a big rolling battery pack to charge devices on the go, such as your phone or whatever other small electric items you might need while you’re out and about.
What’s it made out of? The M One’s frame is made from a magnesium-aluminum alloy, aimed at achieving both strength and light weight. Once it’s folded, the total vehicle height is just 583mm, or about 22.9 inches. Felo also envisions different modular accessories becoming available for the M One, such as external Bluetooth speakers or accessory lights in the future.
As we noted above, so far, Felo has only announced at this point that the M One will be released in Japan, sometime in the fourth quarter of 2023. The MSRP at that time will be 380,000 yen, or about $2,890, which seems like a pretty fair price to us.
What do you think? If you had the opportunity, would you get one? Why or why not?
