BMW's awesome, futuristic electric scooter is real

Friday, 9 July 2021

The BMW CE 04 is the futuristic electric scooter we need right now.

BMW has confirmed its futuristic CE 04 electric scooter will make it to production.

It first arrived as a concept in November 2020 and, thankfully, BMW seems to have barely changed the design in its transition to a production model. There are LED lights, sharp angles, flat lines and a fairly long wheelbase for a scooter.

It looks as if it houses a jet engine rather than a battery pack. Which is to say, it looks awesome.

The CE 04 looks like a concept because it basically is. Thankfully, this will be a concept you can buy.

Bright orange splashes accent the sci-fi look and there’s a side-opening cubbyhole that can house a full-size helmet. A 10.25-inch digital dash is standard, which includes smartphone connectivity and onboard navigation.

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An attractive digital dashboard is standard, which has inbuilt navigation and smartphone connectivity.

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A sneaky cubbyhole is large enough for a full-size helmet.

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There’s also an “actively ventilated mobile phone charging compartment with USB-C charging port.”

Power comes from an 8.9kWh battery, which uses cells developed for the BMW iX SUV and is enough for up to 130km of range. The single rear-mounted electric motor generates a maximum of 31kW, although there is a reduced output version with a maximum of 23kW.

BMW says the top speed is 120kmh for both versions while going from 0-50kmh takes 2.6 seconds.

Four riding modes are included, spanning Eco, Rain, Road and Dynamic. They work with automatic stability control, traction control and ABS.

Optionally, buyers can upgrade the latter two to Dynamic Traction Control and ABS Pro with banking capability, although it’s unclear if dynamic traction control is the same as it is for BMW cars. If it is, I’m not sure why you would want more rear wheel slip on a two-wheel machine…

Charging should take around 4.5 hours on a standard 2.3kW wall charger, or less than two hours on a 6.9kW charger. If the battery level is only 20 per cent and the battery is charged to 80 per cent, the charging time is reduced to just 45 minutes with the optional quick charger.

There’s no word yet on Kiwi availability but if it does make it here, don’t expect it to be a value proposition. US pricing has the CE 04 at US$12,000 (around NZ$17k, directly converted).