I rode the BMW CE 04 and it got me excited about the future of electric motorbikes

As an individual with a garage that is creaking under the weight of leaky, often broken Japanese motorcycles from the 1970s, I’m probably the last person the BMW CE 04 is marketed at. Call me old-fashioned, but I love the sound of an inline-four engine and actively seek out the smell of two-strokes just so I can have a good sniff.

It’s slightly embarrassing, but when it comes to motorcycles, I feel they should be loud, brash and distinctly free from any gimmicks. A purist’s mantra that most electrified machines fail to adhere to.

Rewind the clock a few days and I was in a glorified aircraft hangar, trying to work out how to switch on a fantastically futuristic gunmetal grey BMW CE 04 – the latest all-electric “maxi-scooter” offering from the German brand – and wishing for an ignition slot, so I could insert a key. Remember those?

Price and powertrain

Designed to do battle with 400cc, internal combustion engined-rivals, it pairs a 60.6Ah (8.9kWh) battery pack – mounted as low as possible in the chassis for better balance – with a 31kW (42hp) electric motor that powers the brilliant solid steel rim of the rear wheel via a robust carbon belt-drive system.

In the UK at least, you’ll need an A1 licence to ride the CE 04, which requires doing a proper bike test, rather than ambling around for a day during a CBT. It’s the same story in North America, where the punchiest outputs require a full bike test, although a lower-powered option is available to some markets that negates the need for additional certification.

But back to the glorified aircraft hangar and the overly contrived ignition sequence. Once up and running, I immediately switch the riding mode to Rain, as I know the instant torque delivery of EVs takes some getting used to.

Despite this, a slightly overenthusiastic blip of the throttle has the back wheel spinning on the polished surface of BMW’s sleek hired venue and the power of the electric motor immediately reveals itself.

Thankfully, it is much more of a pussycat on the open road, where normal levels of grip are afforded, and switching it into Road or Dynamic modes allows for the sort of acceleration that go someway to justify the lofty price tag.

When I say lofty, I actually mean painful. Prices for the CE 04 start at £13,070/$12,195, which when compared to rival petrol-powered scooters of a similar size, equates to over double the price. Of course, you can argue the cost of ownership will be lower, as charging from a domestic socket overnight will be cheap. On top of this, there is no oil change and complicated engine to service on a regular basis, it will be a case of replacing consumables like brake pads and tyres, all being well.

Weight and riding experience

The top speed of the CE 04 is pegged at around 75mph, making motorways just about doable, but it is the sprint away from the lights that I found so addictive. It beats pretty much anything bar the wildest sports bikes. What’s more, the battery packs are mounted in such a way that the BMW CE 04’s resulting frame is long and slender, making it effortless to thread through busy traffic.

At 231kg, it’s definitely not the lightest scooter out there, but the German engineers have worked wonders with the packaging to ensure the CE 04 remains nimble and ridiculously easy to ride. BMW’s world-renowned build and ride quality is evident throughout the CE 04. It never feels clunky, or rattly or cheap in any way. It’s a proper BMW.

Regenerative braking almost does away with the need to pull the levers, while dynamic traction control, ABS and automatic stability control only adds to the peace of mind. The latter limits electric motor torque in relation to rear wheel slip, so the bike automatically cuts power when it senses something is awry. Take it from experience, polished concrete floors are a great place to test this technology’s limits.

In terms of acceleration, it effortlessly gets up to 30mph, and then equally effortlessly carries on to 60mph. In fact, after riding this around town for a few hours, I can hand-on-heart say that it is probably one of the easiest ways to fall foul of the law. The silent riding experience and fighter jet-esque tears away from traffic lights make it very easy to, ahem, press on. But when ridden more sensibly, the electric powertrain is such a doddle to live with. Granted, most rival scooters are twist-and-go, but very few are as smooth as the torque delivery on the CE 04. That’s the beauty of electric motors.

Technology

Compared to some of the junk leaking oil all over my garage, BMW’s electric scooter is a technological delight, with a 10.25-inch TFT colour screen that not only features integrated map navigation, it also plays nicely with your smartphone, so it can display messages and make and receive calls, should you have a fancy Bluetooth headset in your helmet.

Navigating the menu screens is a little complex at first, with a giant jog wheel on the bars taking care of much of the UI. You click this right to enter, left to return, while spinning it up and down rotates through the menus. It takes a bit of getting used to, but it wasn’t long before I had the heated grips going and the furnace-like seat warmer turning my glutes into Filet Mignon.

None of this stuff sounds ground-breaking on its own, especially for those with modern electric cars, but much of this tech is missing on current motorcycles, and the idea of a built-in sat-nav is only really just salting to filter through to the two-wheel world.

Charging and practicality

Official range is slated at 130km, or around 80 miles, but that will really depend on a whole host of parameters, including how you ride it, whether you have a pillion passenger and even the temperature on the day.

Although it will hit 75mph, the BMW CE 04 isn’t really built for epic road trips, and that is reflected in the fact that the absolute fastest you can charge it is with a 6.9kW outlet that sees a full battery brim take 1 hour 40 minutes.

BMW

BMW points out that if you are going from 20 to 80 per cent, that time is reduced to 40 minutes, but it’s still a lot more than a break for the toilet and a coffee.

Regardless, scooters of this nature are aimed at inner-city commuters that want a fuss-free way to get from the suburbs into town. For that reason, the CE 04 is best charged from a domestic socket, where a full charge takes just over 4 hours.

That’s totally manageable and does away with the need to install a bulky wall charging unit, which is a real pain if you live in a flat. Instead, a decent extension lead and any old plug socket will see the CE 04 topped-up and ready to go each morning. What’s more, an increasing number of cities are installing lower-powered charging points in road furniture, such as lampposts, which might be irritating for electric car owners and their massive battery packs, but will be perfect for a bike like this.

Also, a distinct lack of engine, exhaust pipe and other oily bits have allowed the bike’s designers to throw in some additional stowage. There’s a ventilated drawer for your smartphone, complete with USB-C connection, while the area under the seat is the perfect size for a helmet.

BMW

There’s even a locker on the side that will happily house charging cables, or is plenty big enough for your passenger’s lid.

Final thoughts

If you can get over the eye-watering asking price, there’s a lot to love about the BMW CE 04 – and electric motorcycles in general. For some reason, they are innately more practical and the desire to use one as an everyday workhorse somehow supersedes that of any petrol engine bike I’ve personally owned, borrowed or ridden.

Perhaps it is the fact you can simply hop on and go – or the lack of engine note irritating the neighbours – that makes them more approachable. The lack of drama and theatre that some EV naysayers deride almost makes electrified bikes like this even more alluring. They don’t tug on the heartstrings like a classic motorcycle might, but they are undeniably less complex and far more useful.

Of course, the price just doesn’t make sense for most at the moment, but like Harley-Davidson and its LiveWire, this is just the beginning. BMW has a smaller, more affordable CE 02 on the horizon that could make emissions-free scooting more accessible for many.