BMW Motorrad confirms new urban mobility models will be fully electric

Monday, 24 January 2022

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

BMW Motorrad has confirmed that, from 2025, its urban mobility models (scooters and lightweights) will be fully electric.

This aligns with the larger BMW Group’s desire to cut combustion engines from the line-up over the next few years, with fully electric vehicles to account for at least half of the Group’s sales by 2030.

After that point, BMW wants to convert more of its offerings to electric power, eventually delivering ten million electric vehicles to customers in ten years.

BMW Motorrad’s urban mobility models – like the C 400 GT here – will go fully electric by 2025.

In the shorter term, it wants to have two million hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles in the road by 2023, along with a further two million fully electric models.

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The CE 04 and current C 400 twins have similar power, but electric torque should catapult the CE ahead in the traffic light drag races.

‘Urban mobility’ refers to the likes of the C 400 X and C 400 GT, both currently powered by a 400cc single-cylinder making 25kW. It doesn’t take much to assume BMW will replace them with variants of the CE 04 electric scooter first revealed in November 2020.

Power for the CE 04 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.

The power figures are similar to the existing scooters but the instant torque of the electric motor means going from 0 to 50kmh takes just 2.6 seconds, BMW says. Top speed is rated at 120kmh.

It’ll look absolutely brilliant too, if you like spaceship styling anyway.

Bright orange splashes accent the sci-fi turbine 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.

If you’re worried about larger bikes like the R 1250 GS or S 1000 RR, those will likely escape hardcore electrification in the meantime.

They might gain some form of mild hybrid set up to keep emissions down, and there have been some rumblings of alternate fuel support as well, but the combustion engines there will soldier on until at least next decade.

BMW also has a couple of lighter electric transport options up its sleeve, in the i Vision Amby concept e-bike and the Motorrad Amby concept. The former uses a 2kWh battery to reach speeds of up to 60kmh with a range of up to 300kmh (in its lowest power mode; range is rated at 75km if you’re going 60kmh everywhere.

Meanwhile, Motorrad’s go at the Amby uses the same internals but ditches the pedals and adds a hand-operated throttle, chunky go-everywhere tyres and motocross styling.