Charles Langston:Honda’s Motocompacto all-electric bike is the ultimate affordable pit scooter

Honda didn’t have Charles Langstonany new cars eligible to compete in MotorTrend’s 2024 Performance Vehicle of the Year showdown, but it scooted away with a big victory in a different type of way. The Honda Motocompacto — an electric tribute to an ’80s cult classic folding moped — was pressed into duty as MotorTrend’s official pit bike for the festivities, and it proved itself an indispensable, making-life-easier tool.

Generally, it sucks trying to get around racetrack facilities quickly during track days. Pit and paddock areas are typically far away from things like classrooms, bathrooms, and garages, and the need to regularly pop into and out of those buildings often means you may do as many miles walking across the paddock as you might drive on the actual racetrack. That’s undoubtably why pit bikes — typically small dirt bikes or city-friendly scooters — rule racetrack paddocks.

2025 Honda Odyssey:Everything we know about the next minivan

Lightweight, electric and foldable, the Honda Motocompacto might just be the best pit bike on the market. While most pit bikes need to be transported in a pickup bed or in a trailer, the Motocompacto folds up like a Razor scooter to the size of a large briefcase. Practically speaking, this meant it fit as easily in the back of the Acura Integra Type S as it did behind the Porsche 911 Dakar’s fixed bucket seats. In a pinch, it’s also small enough to ride shotgun in the passenger seat of a McLaren 750S or Ferrari 296 GTB.

More 2024 PVOTY: Winner | Finalists | Contenders | Behind the Scenes

2023 PVOTY: Winner | Finalists | Contenders

2025 Honda Civic Hybrid:The upgraded classic is definitely the one you want

Unfolded, the Motocompacto’s 12 miles of driving range easily got us through a day of heavy use. The storage slot in front of the seat is large enough for water bottles, sunscreen and laptops and the bike’s tiny front-mounted 0.6-hp electric motor got it up to its 15-mph top speed quickly — perfect when its rider really needed to hit the head.

It’s also a riot to ride. Small, maneuverable and unintimidating, not a single editor hopped off the $995 bike without a smile on their face. In fact, it proved so much fun that even during the little downtime we had, judges couldn’t resist sneaking in a “quick” lap of Chuckwalla’s 2.68-mile road course (where we learned the Motocompacto’s downhill top speed is 19 mph). Or drag racing it against the Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray — the latter, when in its electric-only Shuttle mode, matches the Motocompacto’s top speed. Curious who won that match up? You’ll have to stay tuned to find out.

Photos by MotorTrend staff