In 2013, BMW Motorrrad launched its first electric scooter referred to as the C Revolution. It by no means made it to Australian shores, in all probability as a result of BMW thought that we weren’t but prepared for an electric scooter.
Almost 10 years on and the first BMW electric scooter to hit Australian shores has come in the type of the BMW CE 04, and The Driven obtained an invitation to be certainly one of the first to check trip. Having test-driven the extra modest – and less expensive –Fonz Arthur, I was to see what a excessive efficiency electric scooter can be like.
Let’s begin off with the seems. In the CE 04, BMW Motorrad has achieved one thing I haven’t really seen in many scooters, aside from perhaps the Vespa.
They’ve made it look very cool. The electric drive practice sits alongside the 15″ rear wheel which seems to stay out of the again of the body. It offers it an extended but slender look and jogged my memory initially of Batman’s Batcycle.
My different preliminary thought was, the place the hell is the storage? The reply to that is in the centre console, the place there may be additionally sufficient room for a helmet and charging cables.
Above that storage compartment is a reasonably slim seat, which truthfully didn’t look that comfy. Sitting on the bike I used to be pleasantly shocked by how comfy it really was.
The additional weight of the 15kWh battery which provides it a complete weight of 231kg, mixed with the size, and the bulkier entrance finish of the scooter gave me a reassuring feeling of using one thing pretty stable. It’s a heavyweight bike that requires heavyweight energy.
![](https://535485.smushcdn.com/2232832/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/IMG_7085-300x400.jpg?size=388x400&lossy=1&strip=0&webp=1)
![](https://535485.smushcdn.com/2232832/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/IMG_7085-300x400.jpg?lossy=1&strip=0&webp=1)
![](https://535485.smushcdn.com/2232832/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/IMG_7085-300x400.jpg?lossy=1&strip=0&webp=1)
The 10.25″ TFT Display is straightforward to learn and had a sensible structure. It provides connectivity to your cell so you possibly can load up maps and take cellphone calls when you’re on the go (the latter of which I didn’t try). The preliminary setup and connection course of was a little bit clunky, with the requirement of downloading the BMW Motorrad app to attach.
You even have to depart your cellphone show on whereas the app is open if you wish to make the most of all the GPS options whereas driving. Depending on the size of your trip, you might arrive at your vacation spot with a drained cellphone battery. Luckily although, the CE 04 does have USB charging functionality in your cellphone.
![BMW CE 04](https://535485.smushcdn.com/2232832/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/IMG_7084-1160x1547.jpg?size=517x689&lossy=1&strip=0&webp=1)
![BMW CE 04](https://535485.smushcdn.com/2232832/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/IMG_7084-1160x1547.jpg?lossy=1&strip=0&webp=1)
![BMW CE 04](https://535485.smushcdn.com/2232832/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/IMG_7084-1160x1547.jpg?lossy=1&strip=0&webp=1)
Our drive day began off with a high-production presentation with smoke machines, laser lights and a stage, all arrange in the lobby of BMW HQ in Melbourne.
One factor that was clear from the begin was that BMW doesn’t intend to launch this automobile with a gentle launch and hope just a few hundred individuals decide up on it. They see the time is ripe for an electric scooter to enter what’s presently a reasonably naked market. BMW Motorrad say they anticipate to promote over 5,000 items in Australia.
![BMW CE 04](https://535485.smushcdn.com/2232832/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/bmwsam_12-1160x773.jpeg?size=821x547&lossy=1&strip=0&webp=1)
![BMW CE 04](https://535485.smushcdn.com/2232832/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/bmwsam_12-1160x773.jpeg?lossy=1&strip=0&webp=1)
![BMW CE 04](https://535485.smushcdn.com/2232832/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/bmwsam_12-1160x773.jpeg?lossy=1&strip=0&webp=1)
Now to the query of the way it rides. It’s good. Ok, superb. I’ll elaborate.
The CE 04 provides acceleration from 0-50km/h in 2.5 seconds, with as much as 42 horsepower. That’s zippy, notably in the scooter world.
You can select from 4 drive modes. Eco, Road, Rain, and Dynamic. Eco clearly if vary is a priority in your journey. Road might be the normal choice, and likewise the mode I loved the most. It supplied a very nice mixture of electric torque, in addition to a very easy acceleration. That easy feeling continues at cruising velocity.
Rain is properly, for rain. It did really rain throughout our drive and so I converted with a small a part of me hoping an umbrella or a roof with some scorching air blowing down on me would seem, however alas it wasn’t to be.
Dynamic is reserved for these moments you need to depart your combustion friends consuming dust at the visitors lights. This was enjoyable, but in addition took away a little bit of that smoothness you get driving on Road mode. The sharp acceleration of the CE 04 meant I used to be struggling to succeed in full throttle at any level earlier than having to decelerate for a visitors gentle or danger doubling the velocity restrict.
Let’s be clear. The CE 04 shouldn’t be making an attempt to compete the Harley Davidson Livewire. It isn’t a street bike. It’s a metropolis bike, with roughly 130km of vary and a high velocity of 120km/h. But in contrast to different city-slicker automobiles, it has the energy and dealing with to make you’re feeling like you can very properly take it on an extended journey – simply so long as you have got your charging stops deliberate out.
The day included about 2 hours of metropolis using, protecting roughly 70kms. Despite lengthy intervals of using with out a lot use of the regenerative brakes as we rode up the southern coast of Melbourne’s south-east, the battery vary for the most half held true to its forecasts.
It was a sometimes chilly Melbourne day, so the heated seat and grips was a welcome luxurious not generally discovered on scooters. Pit stops included a fast pull over at a public charging station to display find out how to cost the scooter. Using a sort 2 charger you possibly can anticipate to cost from 0-100% in just below 5 and a half hours, and from 0-80% in juster underneath 4 and a half hours.
There is an choice to buy the bike with a fast charger which provides you a major increase in charging capability from the normal 2.3 kW as much as 6.9kW. This decreases the cost time to roughly 1 hour 40 minutes to go from 0-100%, and simply over an hour from 0-80%.
![BMW CE 04](https://535485.smushcdn.com/2232832/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/bmwsam_8-1160x773.jpg?size=992x661&lossy=1&strip=0&webp=1)
![BMW CE 04](https://535485.smushcdn.com/2232832/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/bmwsam_8-1160x773.jpg?lossy=1&strip=0&webp=1)
![BMW CE 04](https://535485.smushcdn.com/2232832/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/bmwsam_8-1160x773.jpg?lossy=1&strip=0&webp=1)
At this level the bike has gotten huge ticks from the seems and drive classes.
How about the worth? That’s the place it will get very tough.
Starting from just below $22,000 trip away, this may be by a long way the costliest scooter in the market. Trying to gauge the worth is tough with there being so little competitors to check it to.
If you examine it with combustion rivals, it received’t be arduous to balk at the price ticket. If I used to be to check it to the different rising participant in the Australian electric scooter market Fonz, you’re nearly 4x the worth.
So how does one justify the worth of the bike? Well, that actually relies on the particular person shopping for it. This bike is clearly for individuals who are capable of splash additional cash on a motorbike than most. In trade for a considerably increased price ticket than different scooters on the market, you’re getting a considerably higher scooter.
The design and the efficiency of this bike does make it stand out from the crowd. It’s for the metropolis resident that desires a efficiency automobile that comes with all the advantages of journey time and effectivity you get when utilizing a motorbike or scooter over a regular automotive.
It’s additionally price mentioning the vital distinction in worth between this efficiency electric automobile, and the least expensive electric automotive on the market. So in the event you’re on the lookout for trying efficiency EV however don’t need to spend over $50k, then this will likely instantly current itself as a really viable choice.
BMW CE 04 specs
Price: From $21,960 ride-away
Basics: EV scooter, RWD
Range: 130km (claimed), 120km (actual world)
Battery capability: 8.5kWh (usable)
Battery guarantee: 3 years, limitless km
Energy consumption: 7.7kWh/100km
Motors: 1 rear, 31kW/62Nm
AC charging: 6.9kW, Type 2 plug
DC charging: NA
0-50km/h: 2.6 seconds
Top velocity: 120km/h