Honda recently unveiled a small, folding electric scooter known as the Motocompacto that is often referred to as a suitcase scooter. But now a rival Japanese electric scooter company has what could become a serious competitor. Meet Arma, the first lunchbox scooter.
The Arma scooter is both smaller and lighter than Honda’s Motocompacto, making it an even more portable design.
While the Motocompacto is designed to fit easily in the trunk of your car, the Arma electric scooter looks like you could just walk around with it tucked under your arm. Of course, it’s got a convenient little handle as well, so you could carry it like lunch box or briefcase. And at just 10 lb (4.5 kg), it looks quite easy to carry around.
The design is so compact that it is roughly the size of an A4 piece of paper when viewed from the side, approximately 8.5 x 11 inches (21 x 30 cm).
The scooter features many more folding joints than Honda’s now-famous Motocompacto and its minimalist design helps it fold into a tiny package the size of a bathroom scale.
The company claims that it folds and unfolds in just 30 seconds. Once ready to ride, users can get a supposed 9.3 miles (14.5 km) of range from the scooter. I’m guessing that’s measured with a tailwind.
The 14.9 mph (24 km/h) top speed isn’t very fast, but I’m not sure how fast I’d want to go on a 10-lb scooter. To be fair, they say it’s rated for 220 lb (100 kg), so it must be fairly decently designed. Or at least that’s the weight rating if it sees production. The company says they hope to build the scooter later next year, so I’ll withhold full judgment until I see one roll across the assembly line.
On the other hand, Honda’s Motocompacto scooter can’t fold as small and also weighs around 4x as much as the tiny Arma electric scooter. But it’s already in production and taking orders at Honda dealerships. In fact, I ordered one myself and hope to receive it later this year.
The Honda Motocompacto is priced at $999, but there’s no telling yet what the final cost of the Arma scooter can be. Technically, they’re trying to pre-sell them for around the same price via crowdfunding (which I am not recommending anyone contribute to on account of this still being a prototype product).
For those who want to experience the Arma from the comfort of their own home, check out the video below.
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