BMW: no plans to build bigger and powerful electric motorcycles

BMW says high-performance electric motorcycle not in the pipeline

During the last four or five years, manufacturers have been going in the direction of introducing electric-powered motorcycles so that they can eventually phase out or replace their lineup with fully electric models within the next 6 to 10 years.

However, demand for these electrified 2-wheelers are not as what manufacturers hoped for and sales have been really awful. There are actually 3 things that make motorcycle riders shun these electric two-wheelers: 1) range, 2) charging time and 3) price tag. As of this writing, the average range of an electric motorcycle produced by any of the manufacturers are just between 80 to 100 kilometers per full charge.

_{BMW CE 02 during its Philippine launch at the 2024 Makina Moto Show}

Additionally, charging time is still an issue, with even the ones equipped with fast chargers need at least 4 hours of charging time. Battery-swapping technology, on the other hand, still has a very long way to go before being practically viable.

Then finally, with the high cost of lithium battery and other components, the average price tag of these electric motorcycles are twice or three times more expensive than their fossil fuel-burning counterpart.

That said, German brand, BMW Motorrad, has said that the company has no plans of expanding its electric two-wheeler lineup, and even said that high-performance versions of electric motorcycles are not in the pipeline – at least for the next 2 or 3 years.

“We listen very carefully to the requests of our audience,” said BMW Motorrad CEO Markus Flasch.

_{BMW CE 04}

“At the same time, we closely observe the competition in the market and what it is bringing to the market. If you combine both aspects, you arrive at the result that the time for high-performance electric motorcycles is probably not here yet… We don’t think we’re going to need an electric motorcycle with more power in the next 2 or 3 years,” added Flasch.

Currently, the German brand has 2 offerings for the electric motorcycle segment: the CE 04 (our full review here) and the CE 02.

The CE 04 boasts a 130-kilometer battery range and its battery borrowed directly from BMW’s iX line of electric vehicles. The CE 02 boasts 3 riding modes, full LCD screen, and fast charging time of only 3 hours.