BMW Patent Shows Glimpse Electric Future

BMW has been at the forefront of electric motorcycle development for years, with its big C evolution scooter first reaching showrooms a decade ago, long before most of its rivals had committed to following the battery-powered route. The C evolution has since been superseded by the CE 04 and CE 02 in the scooter market, but we’re still waiting for BMW to unveil its first mass-production electric motorcycle.

We know it’s coming. BMW gave a clear hint at its thinking with the Vision DC Roadster back in 2019, and the same year the company suggested an urban electric bike could be ready in five years. At the time that seemed a long way in the future, but now here we are in 2024, so such a machine might be just around the corner. Other evidence includes the working E-Power Roadster prototype that BMW wheeled out in 2019, cobbled together from a combination of electric car parts and existing motorcycle components, and the fact that in 2020 the company registered an array of trademarks for “CE” electric scooters and “DC” badged electric motorcycles. The first two CE models are already in showrooms, so surely the DC range isn’t far away.

Last year BMW filed patents for a small electric motorcycle, using components from the G 310 range, but the latest patent documents, which have just been published, show something significantly larger and higher performance.

Like rivals including LiveWire and Can Am, BMW is taking the route of using an aluminum battery and electronics case as a monocoque chassis structure, with a modular layout that allows the steering head and swingarm pivot sections to be unbolted from the main central element. That means the same electronics and battery packs, and their structural housing, can be used in a range of different styles of bike without requiring a major redesign.

The patent shows a structural case that’s built around a three-tier central section, with layers for the batteries as well as the control and charging electronics, which are sandwiched between bolt-on side covers that give it an egglike integrity when they’re attached. Unlike the modular, structural battery cases used on the LiveWire Del Mar and Can-Am’s upcoming Pulse and Origin models, the BMW design is intended to sit above a longitudinally mounted motor. That’s a layout that BMW previewed on the Vision DC Roadster and in a set of 2021 patents, and it’s well suited to the sort of shaft final drive used in the company’s signature boxer-powered bikes.

Although the idea of a monocoque electronics case isn’t new, BMW’s patent application relates specifically to that sandwichlike design and the structural central section that forms a ring around the electronics within. At the front is a bolt-on steering head section, which appears to be a cast alloy part, and can be switched out for different designs to change the rake to suit various styles of bike. Underneath the rear, the same applies to the swingarm pivot, which also bolts on, allowing it to be easily swapped for another design without reworking the main section of the frame. The rear shock, meanwhile, attaches to the upper back part of the monocoque.

Initially, any electric BMW motorcycle is likely to be an urban-focused, roadster-style machine—the company knows that limitations of battery range and weight make adventure bikes and tourers less suited to the technology. However, thanks to its efforts to become a significant force in the electric car market, BMW is also among the brands working on tech to significantly improve the energy-density of future batteries, including solid-state cells that will be lighter, more compact, and faster-charging than today’s technologies.