The Bayerische Motoren Werke Motorrad USA has taken the next step in its journey into electric urban-mobility territory with the announcement of its new CE 04 model. This all-electric scooter has the range, speed and charging options you need for convenience and practicality, plus it rocks an electronics suite with an infotainment package that together have the potential to embarrass much pricier machines.

2022 BMW CE 04 Design

Beemer combined familiar elements to turn out this unusual-looking scoot. Not sayin' it's bad, just that you can tell at a glance that this is not the usual fare. Low, sleek, and completely unpretentious, the CE 04 carries itself with a certain dignified maturity that pairs well with its environmentally-responsible drive.

“The new BMW CE 04 is the link between the user’s analogue and digital worlds,” says Edgar Heinrich, Head of Design BMW Motorrad. “It is both a means of transport and a means of communication for the big city commuter. With its forward-looking design thanks based on an innovative package, it sets out to redefine the scooter segment.} thanks based on an innovative package, it sets out to redefine the scooter segment.}”

A compact front fender leads the way from its spot within the maw of the forward scoop that itself is formed by foil-shaped lowers joining with the broad leg-guard structure and futuristic flyscreen to punch a hole in the weather for your trunk, legs, and feet. The headlight comes complete with DRL rails built into the V-shaped headlight recess, and like the rest of the lighting, it comes in super bright LED projectors that ensure sufficient two way visibility with your surrounds, day or night. Optional headlight equipment is available with Beemer's Adaptive Headlight on the menu that lights up the road in the corners ahead by lighting a series of LEDs in response to changing lean angles. High-mount turn signals mount to the instrument pedestal behind the transparent flyscreen, well up out of harm's way.

As for the instruments themselves, they're all shoehorned into one of the largest color TFT screens I've seen to date with a 10.25-inch span corner to corner, and high-resolution 1920x720 display. Download the BMW Motorrad Connected App to unlock the infotainment system that includes a fully-interactive navigation feature that can be set up by the user or have profiles downloaded and installed off the interwebs. Field phonecalls under way or jam to your favorite road tunes to make the miles melt away, and charge your phone through the 1.5 Amp/12 Watt USB port in its cubby that is both vented and protected from the elements.

There's not much of a step-through to speak of. The tunnel all but completely fills it in ahead of the flat “floating” seat that gets its name from the airgap between the bench and cargo compartment below. Fold-up footpegs join with the long seat to accommodate your Plus-One, but the clean rear end has nothing in the way of grab rails with the merest suggestion of a butt stop to keep them aboard.

All of the rear lighting is mounted to the single-side hugger spray guard in furtherance of the rear-end cleanup. Like most every scooter in the world, the CE 04 comes with under-seat storage, but in another move away from convention, the seat doesn't serve as the lid, so the storage compartment opens up to the right side of the bike instead.

2022 BMW CE 04 Chassis

On the new CE 04, handling, stability at speed and cornering performance were front-burner topics for the design team, and toward that end, they designed a one-piece, tubular-steel, double-loop frame to serve as the main structure. A single-side swingarm completes the bones in lightweight fashion to reduce unsprung weight at the rear axle with the electric drive motor mounted close to the pivot point to help reduce inertia at same. Up front, a 35 mm, single-bridge telescopic fork turns in 4.3 inches of travel opposite 3.6 inches of travel from the rear monoshock to deliver a smooth ride over your urban jungle of choice.

Cast-alloy rims round out the rolling chassis with 15-inch wheels front and rear that falls much closer to full-size motorcycle dimensions than usual for a scooter. The rubber runs in a 120/70 ahead of a 160/60 for a more big-bike feel and handling.

Dual, 265 mm front discs and four-bore calipers work with a single-pot anchor and a third 265 mm disc at the rear. Bosch 9.3 2-channel ABS comes stock and is of the latest vintage, but for the maximum in brake performance, the factory offers an ABS Pro feature with Banking Capability as part of the optional equipment list.

2022 BMW CE 04 Drivetrain

The fandanglery continues into the drivetrain of the CE 04, because of course it does, being an EV bike and all. An Automatic Stability Control feature helps you keep it rubber-side down by preventing spinout at the rear wheel. Like the ABS, the ASC comes with an optional Dynamic Traction Control system that adds a corner-sensitive element to the anti-lock protection.

Electric bikes just feel kinda' different to riders of smokerbikes, because it's a very different mode of locomotion with little in common with the alternative. With that in mind, the factory added a Recuperation-Torque feature that mimics the engine-braking feel and actually adds some juice back to the lithium-ion battery pack when you roll off the throttle while under way.

In a move meant to appeal to the stewards of the environment, the factory makes clear that only green power is used to produce its battery packs, much like it does for its automotive division. The battery is air-cooled and the motor is liquid-cooled to manage the waste heat and prevent it from causing a reduction in performance at the higher end.

As for output, Beemer doesn't disappoint with 42 ponies at 4,900 rpm and 45.7 pounds o' grunt that's available as soon as you roll on at the right grip, no need to spool it up to get the full torque out of the system. The transmission has but one single gear/speed, but like the usual CVT gearbox, it delivers the twist-and-go operation expected of a scooter.

A single charge can push the CE 04 up to 80 miles and the on-board Level 1 charging system has a 2.3 kW capacity with a 4 hour 20 minute (yeah, baby!) charge time. That would be on a normal 120V household outlet. If that isn't fast enough to suit you, the factory offers a 6.9 kW charging cable in its optional gear list that will take the recover time down to 1 hour 40 minutes with an 80-percent charge in just 45 minutes. Level 2 charging is 240V on a dedicated household line or at a public charging station.

2022 BMW CE 04 Price

BMW doesn't exactly use price as a selling point for its newest EV effort. The 2022 CE 04 fetches $11,795 MSRP in its stock state with plenty of opportunity to inflate that sticker with all the optional gear up for grabs.

2022 BMW CE 04 Competitors

Much like the full-size electric motorcycle market, the electric scooter sector is sparsely populated, especially in the 150 cc-equivalent range, but Yamaha has something just around the corner that will make for a dandy competitor. Enter the E01 electric scooter.

Yamaha E01

The Tuning Fork Company adopts a similar look that is mature with elegant lines and a futuristic mien overall. Originally unveiled as a concept piece at the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show, the factory has applied for patents related to the technology that's shoehorned into this compact scooter package.

At a glance, the tweed-like cover over the top of the Yamaha sets it well apart from the vanilla bench on the Beemer, as does the fairly standard legguard area that lacks the slot that's formed by the forward panels on same. This leaves the E01 looking more like a smoker scooter than its German counterpart.

As for output, the motor is rated for 15-horsepower continuous operation, and around double that for periodic bursts of speed/acceleration. The reason for the dip in power is to make it viable for tiered riders who are limited to 15 horsepower/11 kW. Sure, it falls short of the sheer grunt of the BMW, but still it qualifies as a major advancement for Yamaha's EV-bike efforts.

LED lights are a constant across the board, but it looks like the E01's cargo capacity is rather limited as, according to the schematics, the battery takes up all of the available internal space to make it less viable as a commuter/grocery-getter. Range, charge times, price, and top speed specifics are unknowns at this point, but I feel confident that the BMW will top the Yammie in all of these categories. Time will tell.

He Said

“It's still fairly early in the grand scheme of things for EV scooters, but BMW has emerged as a leader in electrified urban mobility. Just look at the performance, range, and charge times and I think you'll agree that this sector is maturing into a viable alternative to smoker scooters. At this rate, I expect we'll see more electric models from the established marques, and more brands popping out of the woodwork to take advantage of this still-fairly-open market while there's a name to be made.'

She Said

My wife and fellow motorcycle writer, Allyn Hinton, says, “It's no secret that the CE 04's predecessor, the C Evolution, shared battery modules with the BMW i3. That makes it less surprising that automotive-derived batteries are used in the CE 04, so look at the new BMW i lineup for inspiration. Range is acceptable for urban and suburban commuting, and recharge times are doable, especially with the optional charging cable. It's an odd-looking thing, but electric vehicles are a different animal, so looking different is to be expected for manufacturers that embrace the new technology. Performance is adequate for traffic survivability with 0-to-60 times around nine seconds and top speed at 75 mph.”

2022 BMW CE 04 Specifications

Further Reading

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