BMW CE 04 review: this electric scooter impresses with style and all-round ability, but not price

Spending the cost of a small used car on an EV bike, even one as good as this, isn’t an option for most. But it will inspire cheaper rivals

Iwas reminded of Dylan Thomas’s definition of an alcoholic during the launch of the BMW CE 04; someone you don’t like who drinks as much as you. These days, an environmental squanderbug is someone you don’t like with an identical carbon-dioxide footprint. Things quickly become heated when you start to discuss how to reduce CO2, the latest being Transport for London and mayor Sadiq Khan with their plans for a road pricing in the capital, careless of the regressive quality of such a tax, the parlous civil liberties it implies, or its potential to turn into a poll tax on wheels.

Yet as Marcus Schramm, head of BMW’s motorcycle division (Motorrad in German), says: “Just banning things is not a good start to us all agreeing on an environmental future.”

Schramm, along with the rest of the motorcycle makers, wants to keep internal combustion engines running on e-fuels for big touring and adventure machines where the weight and bulk of batteries simply won’t cut it.

But what about the smaller urban mobility markets? Japanese and European bike makers have been pretty slow on the uptake with battery scooters and that’s given the Chinese an open goal. Initially this was because established makers couldn’t see how the market would accept the increased weight and reduced range of a battery scooter; more recently, however, it’s because they were plain late to the market.

BMW’s CE scooter range started in 2014 with the CE Evolution, a heavy and expensive maxi-scooter which owners loved, but there simply weren’t enough of them. BMW’s engineers, however, learned much from the experience and last year launched the CE 04, a replacement which goes on sale in the UK this March.

Heavy? Yes, but at 231kg without the rider, it’s 34kg lighter than the Evolution. Expensive? Well yes, at £11,700 in basic form it’s £1,700 above the qualifying rate for a plug-in grant, so no taxpayers’ money for you, then.

Don’t give up reading quite yet, though, as this machine has some really good qualities.

For a start it’s capable of travelling 80 miles between charges (we saw an indicated 70-mile range whizzing around Barcelona), with a top speed of 75mph and 0-31mph in a scorching 2.6sec thanks to its lithium-ion battery pack and 41.4bhp (peak) and 45.7lb ft motor…

and fancied I heard a faint movement under my feet.