2024 BMW CE 02 : Observations after a day of riding

The electric motor of the CE 02 is a rather silent and refined unit, going about its job diligently with the help of a belt drive. On aggressive acceleration, it lets out a whistle which turns into a subtle whine if you keep the throttle pinned for further acceleration, typical of electric scooters.

Riding the BMW CE 02

The CE 02 is powered by an electric motor putting out around 15 HP and 55 Nm. The torque, which is instantly available from the word go, can rival the torque of 400-500cc bikes if not more! This translates to effortless pulling power and acceleration bursts in urban confines, which in turn, makes city traffic-ridden commutes very enjoyable and something an office (or college) goer will actually look forward to instead of dreading (contrast this with an ICE bike user operating the clutch and gears, dealing with heat and fatigue).

Rapid acceleration bursts can be addictive, and darting in and out of gaps becomes enjoyable and almost second nature, plastering a smile on the face of the rider. 0-50 km/h comes up in 3 seconds flat. One can almost catch some bigger vehicle users by surprise with the pace that this tiny package can produce on city streets.

The turning radius is quite small and U-turns and tight turns are very easy. What also helps is that the scooter has a very narrow footprint. So it can squeeze into gaps almost like a small moped. This (good turning radius) also aids in manoeuvring into and out of tight parking spots, which are aplenty in our cities. The reverse mode involves holding a button down while accelerating with the throttle, accelerating upto a maximum speed (in reverse) of 3 km/h. This feature should help in getting the scooter out of any parking lots or inclines, making the weight feel insignificant at parking speeds.

As mentioned earlier, the CE 02 gets three power modes called Flow, Surf and Flash, with Flash being available only on the Highline variant. I quite liked the Surf mode which allows relaxed coasting and feels more natural (mimicking say a 200cc ICE bike), while the Flash mode employs aggressive and a rather intrusive level of regen to gain back any range lost due to the higher state of power delivery.

Refinement & NVH

The electric motor of the CE 02 is a rather silent and refined unit, going about its job diligently with the help of a belt drive. On aggressive acceleration, it lets out a whistle which turns into a subtle whine if you keep the throttle pinned for further acceleration, typical of electric scooters. There is nothing much to write in this regard.

Being an electric vehicle, there was no concept of vibrations at any specific rpm, etc. One observation, however, is that in the Flash (high regen) mode, some amount of vibrations were felt on the footpegs whenever regen kicked in, but these were also subtle and nothing alarming or worth calling out in a negative sense.

Suspension & Handling

The BMW CE 02 gets an upside-down fork suspension at the front, which is non-adjustable. The rear suspension has a single side shock absorber doing duty, which is adjustable for preload. The rear shock gets a black casing to protect it against the elements and look nice.

The suspension setup is tuned towards the softer side to soak in all the bumps and potholes that a typical urban commute would throw at you. Tiny undulations are dispatched with ease, while the bigger potholes and bumps are also gracefully absorbed and there is no crude feel of crashing into undulations or bottoming out even on bad patches of roads. While the suspension is set towards the softer side, the CE 02 is still able to confidently dart into and out of gaps. Sudden direction switches and lane changes do not upset the bike's composure.

Start gaining speed and the suspension starts to feel floaty, losing a bit of the feedback at the front, while the rear gets a bit bouncy as you attempt to hold higher speeds. This is clearly a sign that this vehicle was meant to operate at city speeds and was not designed to cruise or hold ship at high speeds on open roads.

Braking

This scooter is equipped with a 239 mm single disc brake with a 2-piston floating caliper at the front. The rear brake is a 220 mm single disc with a single piston floating caliper. The front brake is equipped with ABS, while the rear is not, making this a single-channel ABS setup. This is a tad disappointing because for a premium product, one definitely expects at least a dual-channel ABS setup.

That said, both front and rear brakes are outstanding. The bite is brilliant and the feedback is progressive and not wooden. There is no cost-cutting on the brake setup, with steel braided lines fitted stock on both the front and rear brakes. What bike riders have to get used to (if they buy this as a pure urban commuter) is the scooter-style rear brake lever on the left (replacing the clutch lever) instead of under the right foot. It is quite easy to get the rear brake to lock up the rear wheel. With the instantaneous bite of the CE 02's rear brake, one has to be careful about applying too much of the rear brake. Scooter users have to be careful since they tend to use a higher percentage (bias) of the rear brakes, compared to bike riders.

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