BMW C Evolution

[boxer]

Who wants to ride around on a torch

[gn2]

Who wants to ride around on a torch

Well it really comes down to performance and cost.
If leasing and running one worked out 20% cheaper than buying and running a Forza 300, and if it could get me the sixty (ish) mile round trip to my work and back on a charge at the same speeds as a Forza 300 I would definitely consider it.

[StephenC]

Who wants to ride around on a torch

Well it really comes down to performance and cost.
If leasing and running one worked out 20% cheaper than buying and running a Forza 300, and if it could get me the sixty (ish) mile round trip to my work and back on a charge at the same speeds as a Forza 300 I would definitely consider it.

Well I think it would be fair to guess that as it's a BMW there is NO WAY it will cost the same or less than a Forza overall.

[gn2]

True, but as I see it that's what manufacturers should be aiming for.

[Funkycowie]

If only my rented council garage had electricity I'd use one of these for getting too and from work and the TMax for fun longer trips.

and if the wife would let me own two scooters

[Bluebottle]

Funky: Buy one and leave it in my garage, loads of room and 6 power sockets spread around

Not having power is a bit if a deal breaker but owners who do have space can create there own free fuel, using the mains costs about 1/10th the cost of petrol compared to a 250/300

[StephenC]

Right oh, as promised the production version has been launched. And blow me (figuratively) it's darn near identical to the concept. Visordown have also spotted the licence anomaly, comparing the peak torque to that of a Daytona 675

http://www.visordown.com/motorcycle-new ... 23467.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



BMW has just revealed the production version of its ‘C evolution’ (yes, with a small ‘e’) electric scooter at the Frankfurt car show. You can read our review of the BMW C evolution electric scooter protoype here.

Looking just like last year’s concept version, the C evolution is part of a company-wide thrust into electric vehicles, and a couple of things are instantly year. First, by launching at Frankfurt – one of the big car shows, but with little bike content – it’s obvious that BMW is aiming at car drivers rather than established riders.

The second is tucked away in the specs, and shows that the firm is being particularly clever about the bike’s market positioning. It’s ‘rated’ power – the figure the EU uses to decide which licence class it falls into – is 11kW (15bhp). That’s the limit for “A1” 125cc bikes that you can ride on an L-plate having done nothing more than a CBT course.

But wait, there’s another figure in there. The bike’s ‘peak’ power is 35kW (47bhp). That’s at the limit for the A2 licence class, a whole league above the A1 class that the BMW will slot into. Looking at the power graph, it’s easy to see where the higher figure comes from, but the ‘rated’ 11kW figure is what the bike turned in under specific EU-set test conditions and is sustainable continuously. That means it’s the figure that licence authorities look at.

And then there’s torque. At 53lbft, the BMW has as much as a Triumph Daytona 675!

In terms of performance, the raw figures for the bike are 0-50km/h (31mph) in 2.7s and 0-100km/h (62mph) in 6.2s. Top speed is artificially restricted to 75mph. If those acceleration figures seem slow, it’s probably down to the hefty 265kg weight; despite a relatively small, 8kWh power pack, it’s still a heavy way to carry energy around. Range is another down-side, with BMW claiming a 100km (62 mile) maximum in normal conditions.

Charging takes four hours from a normal 220V, 12A socket, or 3 hours from a 220V/16A supply.

Price? Not revealed yet. But high tech vehicles with a BMW badge don’t tend to come cheap.



Read more: http://www.visordown.com/motorcycle-new ... z2eVAP4JsW" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Funkycowie]

nice

[abitmad]

...Charging takes four hours from a normal 220V, 12A socket, or 3 hours from a 220V/16A supply...

Range is another down-side, with BMW claiming a 100km (62 mile) maximum in normal conditions...

And therefore it is of no practical use to most. And you can't believe the maker's figures either. Electric vehicles frequently have a lot less range than is claimed.

...Price? Not revealed yet. But high tech vehicles with a BMW badge don’t tend to come cheap...

Quite. Therefore making it of even less of a practical proposition.

It may well have good performance but what's the use if it costs too much, has poor range and when you do need to recharge, it takes a ridiculously long time. I don't see how in any way this competes with petrol engine scooters.

Electric vehicles are in my view of little real use until they crack the recharge time and the range to make it comparable with petrol. And lower the cost a long way too.

[StephenC]

abitmad, perhaps this will be of little use to you for what you use a scooter for, but since most scooters in use worldwide are for commuting this is a very practical proposition for the vast majority of riders. BTW, in other reports it seems that the 62 mile claim is on the conservative side anyway. And anyway, it does a 70% recharge in 3 hours, which isn't too bad. I see no problems with using one of these for my daily commute.

Price - yes, it will be expensive (it's a BMW: hello!) but then a heck of lot of people are happy to pay Apple stupid prices for their tech (see prices for a new iPhone 5) and the number of Piggy MP3's on the streets show people will pay huge money for a scooter with a good USP, so why not? It is particularly telling that BMW have officially launched the production version at a car show, not a bike show. This is the market they want to steal sales from. And of course the actual daily running costs will be really tiny.

Granted, there is a fair way to go yet before leccy scoots are mainstream, as so far we have had low-power chinese imports, the unknown-branded but expensive Vectrix and now the upmarket BMW. The moment there is an electric Vespa or Tmax,the market will explode. And that cannot be far off. After all, Yamaha are about to launch a MP3 rival and they surely won't want to miss out on this segment, especially after BMW trampling on their Tmax patch.

Meldrew - Depends how you look at it. I think it's remarkable that it is lighter than a Burgman. Batteries are heavy, everyone knows that, and it still has heated grips, ABS and all the other gubbins people expect. All it really lacks is good storage - I don't know why they didn't use the C600 solution to gain a bit more but I guess there's a good reason.