India may soon get its first premium electric two wheeler in the form of BMW CE 04, the German company’s sole electric scooter that was launched in the global markets earlier this year.

The company is actively considering launching the quirky looking scooter in markets like India and China. While there is no timeline available, it will be fully imported from Germany which means it will not come cheap. The CE04 has a starting price of about $ 11,700 in Europe and by the time it makes it to Indian shores, it could carry a steep price tag of INR 14 lakh. Still, as a first mover, it will break new grounds in the market.

“Electrification is clearly the future but we have to look at the timing of it. We have the CE 04 electric scooter in our line up and we are considering it for markets like India and China. It will be a full import to begin with and it’s too early to say if and when we will decide to produce it outside of Germany,” Markus Mueller-Zambre, (Head of Region Asia, China, Pacific & Africa at BMW Motorrad) told ETAuto. “The response to the scooter in the markets that we have launched it in, is stronger than what we anticipated and this is a good segment for a brand like BMW to get into electrification.”

The CE 04 was first unveiled as a concept in 2017 and later as a near production-ready model in 2020. The final production-ready version was unveiled in July last year. Mass production began later in 2021 and it was subsequently launched in European markets this year. It is the successor to the C Evolution electric scooter that has been in production since 2014.

BMW is trying to take the lead in electrification in the car business with three back to back launches in the last 6 months. Though electrification is stronger in India in two wheelers–it accounts for nearly 20 percent of scooter sales in the country already, none of the premium manufacturers have announced any plans yet. Until now.

“It is our strategy to bring our full line up of global products to India and CE 04 is definitely in our consideration. But we haven’t made a firm decision yet and cannot give a timeline at this point,” said Vikram Pawah, President, BMW Group India. “The market reality for EVs for cars and two wheelers is different so we still need to study a bit more but as our existing maxi scooter (C 400 GT price INR 9.95 lakh) indicates, there maybe a strong latent demand for a product that on paper may not make too much sense.”

The CE 04 is powered by a 8.9kWh battery pack which is connected to a liquid-cooled electric motor that produces a minimum 20bhp power. The motor has a maximum power output of 42 hp and the scooter has a peak torque of 62Nm. It can accelerate from 0-50 kph in 2.6 seconds and 0-100 kph in under 10 seconds. It has an electronically limited top speed of 120 kph.

The lithium ion battery pack has a full range of 130km as per the World Motorcycle Test Cycle (WMTC) testing program.

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After posting explosive growth for the last two years, sale of electric scooters have cooled off a bit in the last three months due to a variety of issues including supply chain constraints and a backlash to a spate of fires in the industry. Ather Energy however believes the setback is temporary and industry volumes are still on track to more than double to nearly 100,000 units every month by the end of this fiscal year.

It is incredible that we have reached the 50,000-mark. Owing to the increased customer awareness, preference for green mobility and a host of incentives offered by different states, we have hit the inflection point for EVs to take off and are optimistic about mass EV adoption in the country, Sanjay Behl, CEO & Executive Director, Greaves Electric Mobility, said