BMW’s Vision CE concept is delightfully weird
No one’s asked for a self-balancing electric scooter with a roll cage, but BMW seems eager to give it to us.
God bless you, BMW. The world of motorised two-wheelers needs this sort of thing. OK, sure, we’re not entirely sure who is going to want a slightly off-road-looking electric scooter with a roll cage, but we applaud you for making it.
Or, at least teasing it in the form of the Vision CE concept.
Unveiled Monday (1 September) at the IAA Mobility 2025 motorshow in Munich, the self-balancing Vision CE is, in BMW’s words “a vision of the future of electric, single-track mobility in urban centres.”
Note that wording: “single-track mobility.” It seems BMW doesn’t want to use the word scooter or motorbike. Perhaps because it envisions this as a vehicle that could be ridden without a motorcycle license.
“In addition to its emission-free electric drive, the BMW Motorrad Vision CE's standout features include the elimination of the need for a helmet as well as protective clothing,” declares a media release.
Uhm, looking at the thing, I think I’d probably still want to wear some kit. BMW says the vehicle can “completely balance itself when stationary,” but there’s nothing to suggest that it is impervious to lowsides.
Riders whose brains haven’t been completely rotted by the algorithm may see something familiar here. Roughly a quarter-century ago, BMW attempted something similar in the form of the C1 - a scooter with a roof.
A mainstay of “Top 10 weird motorbike”-type articles across the internet, the C1 was a scooter that sought to offer the more car-like riding experience that no one ever asked for. Produced for just two years (2000-2002), it has remained in the hearts and minds of motorcyclists ever since.
Enough that several comebacks have been floated. First in 2009, with the C1-E electric concept, and more recently in 2020, when a number of new patents surfaced.
“The BMW Motorrad Vision CE builds on [the C1’s] fundamental design philosophy, presenting it in a new interpretation with an emotional design language to create a unique, forward-looking vision vehicle.”
With riders ostensibly protected by a cage of coated aluminium tubes and a safety-belt equipped seat, the Vision CE boasts an “open, airy design, combined with a long wheelbase,” says BMW.
“The BMW Motorrad Vision CE redefines urban riding fun on two wheels,” it adds.
Whether we’ll ever actually see one of these on the road, however, is anyone’s guess. The aforementioned C1-E never made it into production, but BMW is quick to note that stylish electric scooters like the CE02 and CE04 started out as concepts.
It took eight years for the CE04 to go from ‘quirky idea’ to ‘thing you can buy,’ however, so if you’re eager to throw a leg through the Vision CE you may have to wait a while.
Nonetheless, as we said at the start: we love this. Motorcycling sometimes gets itself stuck in a loop of electronics updates and capacity increases, and forgets that two wheels are supposed to be fun. Silly even. BMW seems to have nailed the brief here.
For more single-track mobility news, stick with Visordown.
Chris Cope is a fourth-generation journalist, originally from Texas. He has lived in the UK for roughly two decades and has been writing about motorcycles for most of that time. He has written for dozens of publications and websites in the UK, US, Canada, and Australia.
