The modern BMW started life making motorbikes, and then it made cars and now its Motorrad operation has launched two-wheeled electric machine it claims is neither.
The CE 02 is an electric scooter with an 11kW version that needs a bike licence and a 4kW version that doesn’t, and can be ridden by unlicensed 16 year olds in many countries.
BMW Motorrad insists it’s neither an e-scooter nor an e-motorbike, but more of a short wheelbase “e-parkourer” city machine weighing 132kg.
The less-powerful version of the CE 02 has a top speed of 45km/h and a 45km range, and is incapable of accelerating from zero to 50km/h at all.
The hotter version has 11kW of power from the air-cooled, synchronous motor, reaches 50km/h in three seconds, tops out at 95km/h and has 90km of electric range. Both versions have 55Nm of torque.
The little CE 02 gets to its power peak at 1000 revs (the same as its torque peak), but the big one needs 5000rpm to access all 11kW, while they both use twin 2kWh lithium-ion batteries.
BMW Motorrad marketing head Ralf Rodepeter insisted it was considerably shorter than the electric CE 04 scooter or any of the motorbikes the company sold, giving it an agility and robustness it would need to make it easy to ride in urban conditions.
“It’s not an e-scooter, and it’s not yet a motorcycle,” he explained.
“It should allow us to attract new customers, especially because it needs a license to ride the 11kW version, but we can take a battery out and it’s 4kW so you can ride it without a licence.”
There is a wrinkle with that, though.
Firstly, Rodepeter admitted the CE 02 would cost about two thirds of the €8000 CE 04, so around €5340 in Europe. Ditching the second battery to create the 4kW version cuts around €1000 from that figure.
So while it’s penciled in for 16 year olds to ride to school, it’s only for a certain, demographic of 16 year olds.
While it’s a world bike, to be sold in Europe and North America, amongst other countries, it has oddly fallen foul of Australia’s design rules that mandate dual-zone ABS. The CE 02 only uses ABS on the 239mm front disc brake system, so, it cannot be homologated for road use there.
That’s a shame, because the CE 02 is a funky looking critter, with 14-inch, die-cast alloy wheels, a single-sided, cast-aluminum, swing-arm rear suspension, belt drive and a tube-steel chassis.
The instrument layout is pure 3.5-inch TFT screen, delivering information on speed, battery charge, navigation and more. It has a USB-C socket to charge smartphones and there is an app to show owners when the charging is expected to finish.
That may take some time, because though it is rated at 3.92kWh/100km (or 1.96kWh/100km for the 4kW version), its charging rate isn’t quick. The small-battery version charges at 0.9kW and the big-battery version sips electrons at 1.5kW.
That means the 11kW version will take 312 minutes to charge to 100% on the 0.9kW charger (210 minutes on the 1.5kW version), and it charges from 20-80% in 168 minutes (102 minutes). The 4kW version takes 182 minutes for a full charge, or 85 minutes for 20-80%.
The basic black of the frame and wheels and front fairing are offset with a metallic gray motor cover, and there are anodized gold forks for the Highline version.
The size and the chunky look combine to deliver a 1970mm-long bike with a 1353mm wheelbase, and it’s 876mm wide and 1140mm high, with the seat height set at 750mm.
The 120/80 14 front tire and 150/70 14 rears are supposed to be as much about being robust and giving ride quality as they are for grip, and BMW has also added automatic stability control and recuperative stability control, which also recuperates energy into the battery as well as delivering stability via torque reduction. There’s a mode to eliminate recuperation and revert to traditional braking, and there even a reversing assistant system.
The 11kW version weighs 132kg (the 4kW CE 02 is 119kg), but has a maximum permitted weight of 312kg – so 180kg worth of rider and rider stuff.
There is more to the rider stuff, though, with BMW developing side bags and a top case for the CE 02.
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