2023 BMW CE 04 Review

BMW is marching forward with electric vehicles, and the latest creation for two-wheeled enthusiasts is the futuristic CE 04.

Photography by Ryan Nitzen

Of all the bikes I’ve tested this year, none have garnered public attention as much as the CE 04 electric scooter.

The parking-lot test has seen the BMW pass with flying colors as curious shoppers come rushing over to ask just what the heck it is I’m riding. One guy on an R6 damn near pulled a stoppie as he left Sprouts to come and check it out, declaring he’d never seen anything like it on the road today. Come to think of it, neither have I.

California is the perfect place to ride a CE 04. Gas prices are reaching levels I am sadly used to in Australia, and we don’t brew our own fuel like in America. And I’m pretty sure Orange County accounts for a very healthy percentage of Tesla’s bottom line, so electric propulsion is alive and well in the Golden State.

The CE 04 is easily the most futuristic-looking machine I’ve brought home. Smallish 15-inch wheels, a single-sided swingarm, a massive 66-inch wheelbase, an equally massive 10.25-inch dash, and styling my neighbor thinks came out of the movie Tron ensures the CE 04’s individuality, as does the ride experience itself.

Powered by a 42 horsepower (31kW) liquid-cooled motor attached to a battery with a cell capacity of 60.6 Ah (8.9 kWh), the CE 04 will nail anything that comes near it in traffic-light drag races. BMW claims it will do 0-30 mph in 2.6 seconds, which I can attest is right on the money. Our test bike was fitted via the $580 Premium Package that includes adaptive headlights, Ride Modes Pro, ABS Pro, a heated seat, and tire-pressure monitoring, and in the optional Dynamic mode, it’s even faster. And no, I never get tired of winning the traffic light GP.

The CE 04 will top out at 79 mph on the freeway, at which point you’ll watch your remaining battery level drop like it’s got a hole in the proverbial tank. It’s here you realize the CE 04 is out of its comfort zone—this is a scooter aimed squarely at city riding. It will happily go on the freeway, but if you’ve ever driven on the I-405 freeway in California, you’ll know even though you’re going 14 mph above the posted speed limit, you’re on one of the slowest machines on the road.

That being the case, use the CE 04 for what it’s good for, and you’ll have a fine time. Little squirts to the shops, a run to the office, and even taking my son around the block (I know, I know) are right up its alley. The throttle modulation is so good for an electric machine that a six-year-old can and did ride it himself, although he had dad on the back just to make sure it stayed pointed in the right direction.

Ride Modes Pro increases your available options from Eco, Rain and Road to include Dynamic, all of which give you varying levels of throttle/torque response and ever-increasing levels of regenerative braking.

As you’d expect, Dynamic mode’s regen is, err, dynamic, to say the least. The regen/engine braking is so full-on you hardly need to use the brakes at all in anything below 30 mph. Even when you’re riding at 50 mph, a little forward planning means all you need to do is back off the throttle and apply the slightest amount of front brake to come to a safe stop.

Dynamic’s regen was just too much for me, so I kept my mode in Road to offer full power but enough regen to help with braking for the traffic lights.

I couldn’t honestly tell you how much the regen helps with range. I suspect it’s not a lot. BMW says there’s 80 miles of range out of the CE 04, a claim I find a little dubious—as is almost always the case with electric motorcycles.

My range test run saw me take the scooter 48 miles through stop-start city traffic lights, a few constant throttle segments, and a straight shot back home on the 405, which is pretty much par for the course if you live in SoCal. That run saw me chew through 76 percent of battery life, and if I continued without going home, I don’t think I’d get more than 15 more miles before coasting to a silent halt.

That’s not a deal breaker, but you’ve got to take claimed range with the biggest pinch of salt you can handle. Granted, if all I was doing was the traffic light GP, I’m pretty sure I’d get close to the claimed 80 miles between charges. Alternatively, if I were only doing freeway stints on full throttle at that top speed of 79 mph, there’d be a fair few less miles showing up on that glorious 10-inch dash.

That brings me to charging. I don’t have a 220v charging system in my house, so I’m dealing with the measly 110v made for a charge time of just over three hours. From dead flat, it’d take about four and a half hours.

Here’s where it gets interesting. When out shooting this bike for this test, I needed a charge top-up and went to an Electrify America Charging Station port, where a BMW IX SUV was using the station. There, they only have DC fast charging. BMW claims you can use the same charging plug as their electric cars, but many of the charging places run combined charging system plugs that have a different plug base.

The CE 02 can be plugged into any Level 2 (230v) public charging station (that is not DC fast charging), but not the CE 04. Apparently, you can use any other non-Tesla charging station but not Electrify America. That means you really need to plan out your route to ensure you can get a charge using the correct J1772 port because 60-80 miles is not very far in California, where freeways rule and suck the battery life of the CE 04 dry. Here’s hoping BMW creates a map or app add-on that will tell you exactly where you can fill up because getting to a charging station with minimal battery life left and not being able to use the available juice is a rather frustrating experience.

Back to the ride.

With only a 30.7-inch seat height, the CE 04 is too low for me to have a comfy ride at anything longer than half an hour. If you’re 5’10” or less, you’ll be fine, but not taller. Again, quick jaunts to the shops are no problem, and when you get there, it’s very handy to have the under-seat storage compartment that will fit certain helmets but not my Shoei.

The ride comfort is superb on the CE 04. Running 35mm forks and a massive coil-over spring single rear shock and with 4.3 inches and 3.6 inches of wheel travel, the CE 04 will handle most crappy road surfaces with ease, and the long bench seat means you’ve got a nice straight back to ensure a good posture.

Braking is taken care of by the four-piston/265mm disc front and single-piston/265mm disc rear calipers and ABS that offer ample stopping power, especially when combined with the regen from the motor. You’ll never need more brakes than what the CE 04 provides.

From the cockpit, you’re met with that excellent 10.25-inch dash, which is one of the largest (if not the largest) dashes of any production motorcycle in the road today. Of course, it provides all the stuff you’d expect, like Bluetooth from your phone, navigation, trip, battery range and vital sign information, but it’s not as confusing as some of the other BMWs out there, such as the encyclopedic knowledge required to run an M 1000 R dash.

Polarizing? Yes. Enjoyable? Yes. Everyone’s cup of tea? Most definitely not. I enjoyed my time on the CE 04, but at a base price of $11,795, that gets jacked up to a substantial $14,550 with the added Level 2 quick charger, Comfort Package with heated grips and a comfort seat, centerstand and Premium Package as mentioned, and the fact I can’t charge absolutely anywhere I want, that’s a tough pill to swallow for a scooter.

Like it or not, there’s zero doubt this is the way commuting motorcycling is headed. They won’t all be silent electric bikes, but a good number will be in the near future. But the ride experience is very enjoyable on the CE 04, offering a little glance at what lies ahead in the coming years. CN

2023 BMW CE 04 Specifications

Click here to read the 2023 BMW CE 04 story in the Cycle News Digital Edition Magazine.

 

Click here for the latest Cycle News Scooter reviews and news.

 

Click here for the latest Cycle NewsElectric Motorcycle News and Reviews.

 

Click here for more BMW motorcycle reviews and news.