BMW plans electric expansion with cut-price C Evolution

Electric scooters and motorcycles are going to play an important role in the expansion of the BMW range over the coming years, and there is even talk of a BMW three-wheeler as well as a modern version of the C1 scooter – their famous scooter-with-a-roof. BMW have made no secret of the fact that they’re placing a huge amount of importance on the development of electric vehicles as part of the answer to future ‘urban mobility’ where, increasingly, governments are demanding environmentally clean vehicles to meet ever-stricter emissions controls for city use. Electric vehicles are currently deemed zero emissions and can enter cities that have emission or congestion charging restrictions without hindrance. Schaller explained: “Electric vehicles are absolutely here to stay and we are very happy with the C Evolution scooter of today, but it will get cheaper while still maintaining the premium image it currently has. “We need to get the volumes of electric vehicles to increase because that helps with the economies of scale and we are then able to use more off-the-shelf components, which further drops the price. “An electric C1 is certainly something that might be worth considering.” One electric scooter we are pretty sure is imminent in terms of development is a much cheaper version of the C Evolution. MCN understands BMW are currently hard at work developing a sub-£8000 version using a reworked version of the 11kW motor, which will be dramatically more affordable than the current C Evolution that costs a hefty £13,500. The cheaper version will deliver greater range and urban performance at the cost of some of the current C Evolution’s outright performance.