BMW Motorrad has called this scooter the beginning of the silent revolution, but it is something else as well. The company has been keen to convert its car showrooms to dual use, selling motorcycles as well, and the CE 04 is the first, er, vehicle where I can see their point. If any of the two-wheeled models should be for sale alongside the four wheelers, it is this one.
The reason becomes obvious the moment you think about where the CE 04 fits into the range. Yes, BMW offers other scooters but this one costs A$5000 more, without really offering the rider anything more than the others. The difference is the electric motor, but while that will save some money it will be a long time before it adds up to the extra up-front cost. And anyway, nobody is going to buy this scooter to save money. There are plenty of far cheaper alternatives. No, buyers will cough up for the badge first, the technology second and the ecological creds.
Let’s step back a little. Piaggio, the world’s scooter maker par excellence, sells a staggering number of its high tech three wheelers in Europe, especially in France. Recent market research has established that buyers are mainly businesspeople, including quite senior executives. The high-tech element, like a reversing camera, appeals to them partly because it makes the scooters easier and safer to ride and because it takes them up a notch from the kind of thing that anybody might ride.
I “commuted” for 60km on the CE 04 and used less than half of its charge. Photo: The Bear
In cities like Paris, Rome, Milan, Frankfurt and increasingly Berlin, traffic jams are the norm and scooters might be slowed down by them, but they are not stopped. Parking is easy, too, not just at work and with clients but also at home. Two-wheelers are becoming go-to city transport.
It is not surprising that BMW is looking for a slice of that market. Their previous scooters have been rather Bavarian – a little bulky and ponderous – and it was time for a slim, slick alternative. And why not make it electric? That avoids the increasingly frequent bans to which internal combustion scooters are subjected in cities all over Europe. The technology – and the CE 04 has the whole basket of fruit – is icing on the cake. So is the way dad can fend off criticism from kids who have been following Greta Thunberg.
This makes the CE 04 more of a downward – in size – extension of the BMW car range than a part of the Motorrad lineup, where it doesn’t really fit anyway. It is hard to imagine a GS, RnineT or S1000 rider being attracted to it, while an X5 driver will not be taken as far out of his comfort zone on a scooter as on a motorcycle. Seat height is a reasonable 780mm.
Despite that, looking at the CE 04 as a motorcycle reveals a perfectly useful vehicle. Ergonomics are fine, with the angled front section of the footboards at the correct angle for normal human feet, for once. Many scooters don’t even get this close to right. The standard onboard technology would have sufficed to get Apollo 11 to the moon and back, and I am not even going to try to list it all here. Let’s just say that it won’t make your espresso, but that is about all it won’t do – and it will look great outside the flash café just around the corner from the office.
The heated seat and grips make the CE 04 a pleasure to ride even in Sydney’s winter. Photo: The Bear
You don’t even need to be in the nippiest of its four riding modes for the CE 04 to easily smoke even keenly-driven tin-tops at the traffic lights. The instant torque of its electric motor will even see it outdistancing most motorcycles. Despite its long 1676mm wheelbase, the scooter is also highly flickable. That’s good in Sydney (and many other cities, I suspect), because the suspension is not as compliant as it might be, and the handling means that you can avoid most of the potholes. A surprising amount of space is available in the belly of the beast, which will accommodate a helmet or a reasonable amount of shopping when you’re not using it for the charging cables. There are two: it takes four hours and 20 minutes to full charge with the standard charger, and only an hour and 40 minutes with the quick charger which apparently requires three-phase power.
Power output is 31kW@4900rpm with torque of 61.9Nm@1500rpm. A permanent magnet liquid-cooled synchronous 148v electric motor will take it to 120km/h. The single-speed gearbox is integrated into the motor housing, and final drive is by toothed belt. Kerb weight is 230kg.
Take lout the charging cables and there is room for a helmet. Photo: The Bear
With a steel double loop frame and suspension consisting of a telescopic fork with 100mm travel and a single sided swingarm with directly hinged suspension with 92mm of travel. Brakes consist of four-piston fixed calipers and dual 265mm rotors with ABS at the front, single piston floating caliper on a 265mm single rotor at the back. The CE 04 rolls on cast aluminum 15-inch wheels with 160/60R15 and 120/70R15 tires.
The BMW CE 04 might not be a muse – or indeed a chariot – of fire, but it looks like a winner, at least in Europe. It remains to be seen whether the car culture in the likes of the US, Canada and Australia will admit it.
