BMW Motorrad is targeting a much younger audience than usual with its latest product, the CE 02.
Feel familiar? It should do - it follows a concept scooter of the same name from 2021, and in terms of styling and spec, the production bike is awfully similar. Except, as far as BMW is concerned, it’s not an e-scooter, nor is it an e-motorcycle - apparently the CE 02 is an ‘eParkourer’, a word we don’t intend on using again.
The CBT-friendly machine rolls on dinky 14-inch wheels, and although the seat height has gone up a little, it’s still nice and low at just 750mm. Inside its tubular steel frame is a motor which presumably powers the rear wheel via a belt, just as the concept did.
There’s a choice of two power outputs - 15hp or 4hp, the latter making the CE 02 suitable for 16-year-olds, and the torque is rated at 40.6lb ft. The top speed for the 4hp bike is 28mph, while the full-power version can hit 58mph, while also being capable of dashing from 0-30mph in three seconds. Both editions are fairly light: the 4hp CE 02 tips the scales at 119kg, and the 15hp version is 132kg.
Feeding the motor is an air-cooled lithium-ion battery, with the capacity tied to the motor output - the low-powered one gets a 1.96kWh pack, while the pokier of the two gets 3.92Wh to play with. With the bigger one, you’re looking at a range of “more than” 56 miles. Once empty, it takes just over five hours to charge from a standard domestic plug socket, or three and a half hours with the optional 1.5kW onboard charger.
Suspending the CE 02 is a pair of USD forks and a rear monoshock. The former can be finished in spangly anodised gold if you spec the Highline version, which also comes with splashes of ‘Petrol’ blue intended to make the bike “look dynamic and future-oriented even when standing still,” BMW reckons.
Highline bikes also get a phone mount so you can use your smartphone running the BMW Motorrad Connected app as an additional display to complement the 3.5-inch TFT instrument cluster. Whichever version you go for, the standard kit list includes ABS for the front wheel, a USB-C socket and keyless go.
While the CE 02 will eventually come to the UK, it won’t be cheap once it lands on our shores, based on how much it costs in the USA. There, the starting price has been confirmed as $7,599 plus destination charges, or just under £6,000. A petrol-powered Honda Grom, for comparison, is £3,849.
