BMW Definition CE 04 Scooter

[Admin]

BMW recently showed off the Definition CE 04 electric scooter. Where are the motorcycles? (BMW Motorrad/)

BMW has recently treated the press to a non-contact digital look at its far-reaching plans for future automobile electrification, safety, connectedness, and autonomy, but save for the new Definition CE 04 electric scooter, said to be close to production, the presentation passed over two-wheeled plans.

RELATED: BMW Radical New Electric Scooter

This makes  sense because: 1) automakers must scramble hard for places on the escalator to the fast-evolving auto future, yet 2) it’s hard to envision BMW’s established motorcycle line of long-distance tourers and adventure bikes being successfully electrified at this point. As a learning experiment, at the end of 2016 the company gave the urban transportation field a whirl by announcing the BMW C Evolution electric scooter. Reviewers gave it decent marks as a test of concept, but at its 15,000 euro price (that’s US $17,850 today), 606-pound weight, and limited on-board storage (batteries take up a lot of volume) it was not for nimbly beating traffic while carrying out impulse shopping raids.

The Definition CE 04 was the only two-wheeled BMW in the #NEXTgen 2020 presentation. (BMW Motorrad/)

Based upon experience with C Evolution, the correct properties of an urban transport module became clearer. For a likely daily commute of 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) and on the needs for ease of handling (the classic Vespa, as seen in the 1953 movie Roman Holiday, weighed 253 pounds!) and the secure carriage of parcels, the vehicle was redesigned. The engineers reduced battery weight, putting it where you least feel it (under the floor pan) with performance realistic for the application. Helmet-size underseat storage was added.

Reduced battery weight placed lower in the chassis than the C Evolution scooter is said to make the Definition CE 04 more suitable for the rigors of urban use. (BMW Motorrad/)

No real specifications or likely price were released, but at the rear, a glimpse of mechanism confirms a single-sided swingarm, cog belt drive, and single-shock suspension. A 10-inch data screen interfaces with your phone to keep you connected and updated. Finally, the vehicle delivers the radical style you see here, in line with Europe’s current love affair with origami. Don the matching riding gear, singling you out as part of the solution, not part of the problem. The jacket illuminates to signal braking or turning, while wirelessly charging your phone in its dedicated pocket. Savor an abstract, unknowable, but infinitely cool electric future.

It’s not in showrooms yet but BMW tells us that something close is coming very soon, likely within a year.

View the full article