The BMW CE 04
You move around the world’s cities and metropolitan regions exactly at the point where each project represents the first step towards the next new idea. And you are also always on the move. We are familiar with this captivating dynamism as we have been applying it for over 10 years to develop solutions and concepts for urban electromobility, something that means far more nowadays than just getting from A to B. It is from this long-term innovative leadership that the BMW CE 04 is launching into a new era of design to seamlessly integrate into your everyday life thanks to its intelligent connectivity solutions. Quite simply #PluggedToLife.
Design brings us together
The two colour concepts have been accurately adapted to the modern and unmistakeable design of the BMW CE 04. They emphasise the pioneering design and set striking highlights.
Avantgarde
Expressive and confident: BMW CE 04 Avantgarde in Magellan grey metallic. Different tapes set striking highlights and emphasise its expressive design.
Light white
The bright white tone dynamically and liberally reflects the vibrant big city as a contemporary space for interpretation.
Ahead of the time and yet timeless
The design of the BMW CE 04 centres around the slim energy storage unit in the underfloor assembly and the compact drivetrain. The design liberties and solutions here have led to new aesthetics, for instance the charging compartment that folds out towards the side or the floating seat. The low centre of gravity represents a further benefit: for fun handling, surprising dynamism and timeless riding pleasure. As a result, one innovation seamlessly leads to another, also in terms of design. Ample, calm and minimalistic surfaces dominate the overall design. In this context, the front end is excitingly broken up while the rear end reveals technological components, a typical feature of motorcycles.
Full of energy, efficient and with zero emissions
In future we will convert our coffee break around the corner to kilometres.
Project Lead of BMW CE 04 project
It charges up wherever you are
That’s what we call comfortable: you start the day bursting with energy and your BMW CE 04 is already waiting for you with a charged drivetrain battery. It is simply charged at 220 V domestic sockets or your BMW Wallbox. And with the optional quick charger you get more from every charging process – more time to be precise: you can then charge your BMW CE 04 at the BMW Wallbox or on the go from 0% to 80% in around 65 minutes with the maximum charge current.
Ride the BMW CE 04 just with driving licence category A1
If you hold an A1 category driving licence, you can simply experience the riding pleasure of the BMW CE 04 in the derated variant generating a nominal capacity of 11 kW (15 HP). Our authorised BMW Motorrad Retailers are happy to explain all the details.
Lend your BMW CE 04 an additional, individual touch with the optional sticker set for trim panels and the disc wheel.
The standard 10.25” TFT colour display offering a perfect view of all vital vehicle data and BMW Motorrad Connectivity services.
Fully electric, efficient and featuring a maintenance-free toothed-belt drive. That’s how you silently whizz through big cities with zero emissions.
Thanks to the practical Side Loading compartment with integrated lighting you can quickly and safely stow away the helmet and charging cable.
Check Out BMW’s Insane CE-04 Electric Scooter And All Of Its Crazy Features!
Tried-and-tested motorcycling technology: LED lighting ring and the optional Headlight Pro featuring adaptive headlight guarantee more convenience and safety.
22 BMW CE 04 Scooter Mini Review
With no US publications invited to the press launch of the BMW CE 04 more than a year ago, we had to enlist the help of our friend Bertrand Gahel to send us his thoughts in the form of his First Ride Review. Thirteen months later, we finally got our hands on the BMW scoot.
Critics of electric motorcycles – and there are a lot of you – have made their points perfectly clear: An electric motorcycle simply doesn’t make sense. At least not yet. They don’t go far enough, and they don’t charge fast enough to make any reasonable sense to own.
22 BMW CE 04
An electric scooter with a futuristic design that’s perfect for doing scooter things. Shame about the price, though.
Highs
A scooter, however, is a different animal entirely. Unlike your usual motorcycle that’s built to whisk you away to faraway places, scooters are urban utility vehicles through and through. Built to zip around metropolitan areas quickly and with ease, scooters are all about short jaunts, running errands, and being practical alternatives to cars or standard motorcycles. This, friends, is where an electric scooter makes a ton of sense. EVs were made for this kind of thing. BMW’s CE 04, specifically, makes a strong case for itself in this very specific environment (except for one point, which we’ll save for the end).
The Case For Electric Mobility
Full disclosure; I’m writing this review after having the CE 04 in my possession for about a week, which is not nearly enough time to know every aspect of what it’s like to live with such a niche vehicle like this. A comprehensive review this is not, but it does give a taste. That said, my use case was perfect for the CE 04 (and any EV and/or scooter). I needed an around-town go-getter for making quick trips, running errands, getting a bite to eat, or going to the gym. All of these things are a 10-mile round trip, door-to-door. Max. My car or motorcycle has hardly warmed up by the time the trip is over. The CE 04 was made for this, and I ran around town for a week, multiple times. Additionally, I only plugged it in to my home 110v wall outlet at the end (with 30% charge still showing) just to see what that was like.
The CE 04 comes standard with three riding modes: Eco, Rain, and Road. Our tester came with the optional 500 Comfort Package which, among other things, includes a heated seat and a Dynamic riding mode. You can probably guess what kind of power delivery the four modes delivered, but the real difference is the regenerative braking. Eco and Dynamic modes both slow the scoot down with a fierceness when you let off the throttle. Road and Rain are somewhere in the middle and far less aggressive.
Direct (belt) drive from the electric motor to the rear wheel results in instant, very quiet acceleration. The belt is also extremely low-maintenance, too. The preload-adjustable, direct-mounted shock could use more travel, though.
This matters because there is a small learning curve that comes with the CE 04, but if you’re familiar with BMWs, at least the user interface will be very familiar since the buttons and scroll wheel on the left bar are common amongst BMW’s other motorcycles. Me being me, I kept it in Dynamic mode 90% of the time, which gave me confidence that I could leap off the line with a bang and easily leave cars behind when the lights turned green. Conversely, if the light was red ahead and I timed it just right, I could let off the throttle and let the regenerative braking literally bring me to a stop without ever touching the brakes.
Under The Hood
BMW claims 0-30 mph in under 2.6 seconds, which is easily enough to win the stoplight drag race against fellow motorists. With 42 HP and 45.7 lb-ft at its disposal from its liquid-cooled motor, the CE 04 has its sights set squarely on its 400cc gas counterparts – hence the 04 in its name. The 8.8 kWh air-cooled battery borrows cell technology from the iX line of electric cars the German brand sells, making for efficient use of company resources and tech. The CE 04 is anything but light, coming in at 527 pounds fully charged (smirk) on the MO scales. That’s certainly heavier than any of its gas counterparts, but because the batteries basically lie flat at the bottom of the frame, the weight isn’t as clearly noticed. However, if you need a little extra help moving it or getting out of a parking spot, there’s a convenient reverse button that corresponds to the amount of throttle given.
BMW CE 04 2022 Price and availability
Due to land in the UK dealership network in Spring (March/April) 2022, the BMW CE 04 has a starting price of £11,700. Though, in true BMW fashion, there are plenty of options extras to include should you desire, in turn bumping up the final price if you want all the bells and whistles.
Running costs may be cheap, but that’s a steep price point. This supposedly matches the target consumer who’s after a luxury commuter, is conscious of the green future of mobility, and is ultimately willing to pay for it. Particularly in spaces like London, where the centre is becoming increasingly ‘electrified’ with rent-a-scooters commonly zipping around the city streets.
As the base price is over £10,000 it’s no longer eligible for the UK plug-in grant, with posts moved that is now capped at £10k.
Interested scooterists may be tempted by a PCP option; a 25% deposit (£2,951.46) would grant you £137.94 a month for 35 months, and a final optional payment of £5700. A tad more palatable than one big upfront cost (for some).
Consider that at the end of a 35 month PCP deal, electric tech will have developed considerably, and there may be a more advanced option to tempt you in lieu of that big final payment.
Two colours to pick from, available in white (£0 extra, and looks a bit like an iron) or grey ( £220 in the ‘Avant-Garde pack’).
We were atop an Avant-garde grey scoot, priced up at £13,080 with dynamic pack (riding mode, DRLs cornering lights, cornering ‘ABS Pro’), city pack (alarm, tyre pressure control, heated grips, centre stand) and SOS button.
As a 400cc equivalent, it can be compared to the BMW C 400 GT (£6,995). it’s 5 grand up on that. You could compare it to the £12,500 Yamaha TMAX Tech Max, which has a similar power output with 562cc parallel-twin.
Whilst other big manufacturers start to get their electric models ready for release. Yamaha with the E01, Honda with theirs in development, Kawasaki’s in the pipeline, and the electric consortium formed. it’ll be interesting to see how size and price match up.
Electric engine
A permanent magnet electric motor is mounted towards the rear of the steel double loop frame, between the battery and single-sided swingarm. Liquid-cooled with a front-mounted radiator, peak output is 31 kW / 42 bhp (15 kW / 20 bhp rated output), and 62 Nm / 45.7 lb-ft of torque, with a 74 mph top speed.
The Berlin-built motor unit is derived from its electric hybrid cars, and you’ll also find it in the BMW iX and 2 Series hybrid.
In the pre-ride chat there was plenty of boasting on the 0-50 kph (31 mph) time being 2.6 seconds, and on the ride it was no exaggeration.
Whilst not quite leaving the tyre-sized hole in the road I was expecting with instant torque synonymous with electric machines, the CE 04 absolutes flys off the line with power smoothly applied to the rear wheel via belt final drive. It’s a truly addicting twist and GO (in capitals!) and you’ll surprise everyone in the famed ‘traffic light GP’.
We even had an R1 rider shocked off the line, who proceeded to tuck in and fly past us in revenge…
With a single ‘gear’ and smooth power curves, the scooter is classically scooter ( electric) in its ease to ride. In fact, I’d say anyone who can balance on two wheels could be confidently zipping about the city in no time.
Speaking of ease of riding, this scoot can be restricted to an A1 licence compliant 11 kW output for free by your local BMW dealer, and the standard power is still A2 compliant.
BMW CE 04 range and battery
A full charge will get you around 130 km / 80 miles. This rang true on our route, covering just over 60 km and finishing with just under 50% battery left. but in its defence, holeshot-starts at traffic lights will drain the battery quicker than cruising in eco mode.
The battery is again an in-house BMW Motorrad development, 40 lithium-ion cells mounted under the footboards. providing twin benefits of air cooling and a seriously low centre of gravity. The high-voltage battery sits on a cooling plate with cooling fins on the underside, said to keep the cells in a perfect state for optimum mileage.
BMW found a city commuter wouldn’t near this range with average use, so were happy with providing an 80-mile max range (70 miles realistically, you’d be mad to risk running it to empty).
To ease some battery concerns, an extended warranty is given with the assurance that should it fall to 70% capacity in five years or 40,000 km, it’ll be replaced free of charge. On that, servicing appears to be due every 10,000 km, as per the onboard computer.
BMW CE 04 charging times
Best way to show this is with a handy little table, with the CE 04 and its restricted A1 licence variant.
You get the 2.3 kW charging cable with the scoot, or can pay £850 for the 6.9 kW quick charger. Despite being the most expensive accessory on the list, it substantially reduces charging times. and if using the scooter for longer distances this is a necessity. We’re told both will fit under the seat with your lid if you Tetris it all in right.
I asked if BMW Motorrad is considering adding a long-range version of this scooter with more batteries. They said it’s unlikely, as this is a fine-tuned product and they wouldn’t want to mess with increased weight, particularly when this is 40kg down from the C Evolution.
Don’t forget, if you stop for a coffee (near a plug) you can always top up a chunk for 15-30 minutes.
BMW has created an electric scooter concept called the Definition CE 04
BMW is roping its scooter-building arm into its electrification strategy. It presented a futuristic yet close-to-production concept named Definition CE 04 that previews what its next battery-powered scooter will look like.
If the design looks familiar, it’s likely because the CE 04 evolved from the Concept Link introduced in 2017, and its unusual proportions haven’t significantly changed. Alexander Buckan, the head of vehicle design for BMW Motorrad, explained swapping the gasoline-burning engine for an electric motor allowed his team of designers to make the CE 04 much lower than the company’s other scooters. He also pointed out that some of the suspension and powertrain components were intentionally left uncovered to make them part of the overall design.
BMW reveals ‘futuristic’ 2024 electric CE 02 urban scooter
BMW Motorrad USA recently unveiled the new 2024 BMW CE 02. It’s electric, and it is designed to appeal to young people. It’s neither an e-motorcycle nor an e-scooter, according to BMW. It’s an “eParkourer,” created for the urban environment.
BMW CE 04 (2022). ACCELERATION. GPS measured
“With the CE 02, we are striving for something new at BMW Motorrad and want to be pioneers once again. Thanks to its unusual proportions and striking graphics, the new CE 02 is an uncomplicated, youthful form of single-track mobility. The reduced design language stands for lightness and fun. The FOCUS is not on utility, but on emotional appeal, riding pleasure and uncomplicated, almost intuitive use,” explains Edgar Heinrich, head of BMW Motorrad design.
The disc wheels are designed to emphasize the proportions. Black as the basic color for the frame, wheels, front fender and triple clamp fairing, and granite grey metallic matt for the motor cover offer a contrast. The reduced design offers plenty of scope for your own design options. In this way, the new BMW CE 02 becomes a way for the owner to express himself. There are almost no limits to realizing your own design ideas and customizing the BMW CE 02.
The optional Highline package adds forks, anodized in gold and a tape design in combination with Petrol as a contrasting color, making the CE 02 look dynamic and future-oriented.
The 2024 BMW CE 02 will arrive in the U.S. with an MSRP of 7,599 plus destination.
The highlights of the new BMW CE 02:
The new BMW CE 02 is powered by an air-cooled, current-excited synchronous motor. Power is supplied by two air-cooled lithium-ion batteries with an operating voltage of 48v and an energy content of 1.96 kWh each, which can be removed for care and maintenance purposes. With an output of 15 HP and 40.6 lb-ft, the new CE 02 accelerates quickly from traffic lights and offers a dynamic riding experience. With a top speed of 59 mph, progress is speedy and a range of more than 56 miles (according to WMTC) allows for extended urban adventures. Thanks to its low weight of only 291 lbs and the low seat height of only 29.5 inches, the new CE 02 is also characterized by its flickable handling characteristics.
Torque is transmitted from the synchronous motor on the right-hand side of the vehicle via a toothed belt to an intermediate shaft. From there, another toothed belt on the left side takes over the function of the secondary drive to the rear wheel. This sophisticated construction ensures the best possible center of gravity for neutral handling. ASC (Automatic Stability Control) ensures safe power transmission between the rear tire and varied road surface. RSC (Recuperation Stability Control) functions similarly to an engine drag torque control and specifically reduces the drag torque in overrun mode to keep the vehicle stable. At the same time, recuperation takes place in overrun mode. Reversing aid makes maneuvering simple and easy.
Ride Modes
The new CE 02 comes with two standard ride modes: “Flow” and “Surf”. Flow offers the optimal drive set-up for floating along in urban traffic with a softer throttle response and medium energy recuperation. Surf provides a ride experience familiar to surfers: A direct throttle response permits dynamic acceleration, and zero recuperation enables maximum coasting and effortless cruising. The “Flash” driving mode is available as a sporty and dynamic addition and is part of the optional Highline package. In this mode, the new eParkourer from BMW Motorrad provides a very responsive, sporty, and dynamic riding experience.
The new BMW CE 02 comes standard with a 0.9 kW external charger, which enables charging to be carried out quickly and conveniently using standard household outlets. A quicker 1.5 kW charger is available as part of the optional Highline package.
Chassis
Thanks to its low weight of only 291 lbs. and the low seat height of only 29.5-inches, the CE 02 offers agile handling. The CE 02 relies on a torsionally rigid double-loop frame made of tubular steel. The front wheel is guided by hydraulically damped 37 mm telescopic forks, while a single-sided die-cast aluminum swingarm is used at the rear, along with a directly linked shock absorber with adjustable spring base.
The 2.50 x 14-inch front and 3.50 x 14-inch rear cast light alloy disk wheels are fitted with wide 120/80-14 and 150/70-14 tires. The BMW CE 02 is decelerated by disc brakes at the front and rear and supported by BMW Motorrad ABS at the front wheel. Adjustable hand levers allow riders to adapt hand reach to meet their personal preferences. The footrests allow the rider two leg positions in solo mode: relaxed on the rider footrests or sporty-dynamic on the passenger footrests.