BMW C Evolution electric – road test 2014

BMW C Evolution electric: In the 80s TV show “Automan”, the protagonist was a virtual man capable of "programming" real objects. He was a kind of luminous hologram, driving a car that went beyond the limits of physics (in reality it was a Lamborghini Countach), with instantaneous acceleration at incredible speeds and capable of making right-angle turns. While driving the C Evolution some memories came back to us, as if we had been in an episode of the television series we would have said: “Cursor, draw me the scooter!” Without the engine noise driving it is something unique, it really feels like you have traveled through time and are in the future, performance are extraordinary, with one shot and one absolute record recovery, you look at a point to reach, you open the throttle and an instant later you are already there. You can overtake or reach a green light with video game accelerations. Charging costs are negligible and at more than one moment we thought that perhaps this could really be the right path to follow: zero impact vehicles to be used in the city, but not only, which allow also a great driving pleasure. The usual obstacles remain to be overcome, with a price that is currently challenging, an autonomy suitable only for short and medium range use, charging times that prevent "on the fly" refueling, as well as the uncertainty of durability of batteries. In our opinion though all the hesitations would disappear if the price were drastically lower, to date we find it the only major obstacle to the diffusion of what we can define without many doubts as the best two-wheeled vehicle, at least in urban settings, that we have ever tried.

Aesthetics and finishes:

rating:  

Futuristic look for a product that seems to come from the future, excellent quality

The look is rather "pushed", colors included (for now the only ones in which it is produced), allow highlighting the technological contents of a certainly futuristic product, without however exceeding in bad taste. It recalls the lines of its brother the C600 Sport, although in reality they have very little in common. Indeed the whole platform revolves around batteries, enclosed in an aluminum structure which becomes the new frame of the BMW electric scooter. The "dress" that was designed around it recalls the family feeling of the scooter range from the Elica company, with a deliberately more futuristic cut. The presence of a instrument panel replaced by a large display, which looks like that of a car infotainment system, is the first big clue to the type of propulsion, together with the absence of an exhaust terminal. Overall it is aesthetically pleasing, especially in light of the quality, with high quality finishes, as is evident upon closer inspection. In addition to the adjustable levers, which are uncommon in the scooter sector, we can see that every detail is well taken care of and the materials used and the couplings are excellent. Only the saddle is an exception. As we will confirm in the test, it is too inclined forward and, strangely, the cover does not adhere to the padding, it almost seems that in the transition from design to reality, we wanted to favor design more than practicality. This is perhaps the only flaw from an aesthetic point of view, because otherwise even looking at it, it is clear that we are faced with an exclusive product, so much so that it attracts the attention of even those who do not perceive its technical particularity, and when at the traffic lights he asks us for information he starts from the engine capacity... It may be the absence of noise, it may be the particular aesthetics, but It really attracts a lot of attention. Never before with a scooter had we been the subject of comments from so many people. From the curious people who immediately go into the technical question asking us for details on autonomy and performance, to the women who turn to look at us almost with admiration. Not even with a convertible from a famous manufacturer can you get so much! Driving today with a C Evolution means being riding a very particular and innovative product, which many would like to at least try once, but which also represents the concrete representation of what the vehicles could be like in a few years. A whim that, if you can afford it, it is certainly worth the half madness of the 15.750 euro price list.

Engine and performance:

rating:  

Record performance and an unapproachable result for the competition in the shooting voice

You say electric and many enthusiasts of the world of two wheels turn up their noses, at least among those who do not have direct experience on the topic. Then after observing its appearance they begin to complain about the absence of the "sound" of the engine, perhaps they complain about its heavy weight and dimensions. In the end, however, it's very easy to make them change their minds, just put them in the saddle and show him what C Evolution is capable of. If already a standing start is sufficiently "demonstrative", it's the shots that make even more of an impression. The numbers, upon careful reading, reveal only part of the exuberance of the electric engine. 0-100 in 6,2 seconds, compared to 7,1 for the C600 Sport, maximum speed self-limited to 120 km/h, but with the power available it could perhaps go even faster than its petrol brother. The electric engine is liquid-cooled, in fact you can see a small radiator located in the front right part under the fairing, and has a maximum power of approximately 48 horses at 4.650 rpm, but that nominal is 15, you can therefore also drive with only a B license. However, in light of the double reading of the power data, it can circulate on motorways and ring roads. I am 72 Nm of maximum torque, available immediately and up to 4.500 rpm, a characteristic and advantage of electric propulsion, which sees the maximum data delivered precisely from zero. A clutch is therefore not needed, and the entire transmission is reduced to a minimum. This leads to obtaining ainstantaneous acceleration not even imaginable for a combustion engine, without any delay compared to the opening of the throttle, especially in transient situations, in which the transmission of a normal scooter significantly slows down the grounding of all the power available. At the first acceleration at full throttle, with "soft" hands on the handlebars, the vehemence was such that we risked losing our grip, even though we already knew what the electric was capable of, it still quite shocked us. Wanting to be "bad", with a passenger behind us we started slowly, pretending that the power was "poor", and then opened the throttle at 60-70 km/h. The recovery is stata so brutal and immediate, that the passenger actually risked tipping over! As in the automotive sector, in this case too it is possible to manage a “intelligent” braking power. The engine electric can in fact work, in release, as a generator and recharge the batteries. Energy recovery, together with acceleration delivery, varies depending on which of the 4 mode was selected with the appropriate button on the handlebar. You can choose the most aggressive Dynamic, with all the power available both in acceleration and in release, the Road with full power and recovery in half release, or the EcoPro which allows you to save power during acceleration and increase autonomy by approximately 10-20%.Please note that it does not change the maximum speed and this saving is therefore only possible at city speeds. The last one, the Sail, eliminates the action of the engine in release, canceling this sort of engine braking. The choice of mode also modifies the response of the ride by wire potentiometer, more aggressive in Dynamic, much less in Eco Pro. As is easy to imagine, compared to the riding modes that we are now used to seeing in the motorcycle sector, here the choice has a much more substantial impact on the use of the vehicle. In Eco Pro the starts are much less cheerful, and even the recovery in release has a significant impact on driving. In the automotive sector, driving courses have already been created to adapt one's style to cars with braking energy recovery systems. It may seem crazy to some, but it significantly changes the autonomy of the vehicle. The braking effect of the engine is also present during braking and adds to the power of the discs, but to correctly exploit its potential, you need to relearn how to manage the accelerator and brakes. If you want to slow down, without reducing the speed too much, you must not close the throttle completely, so as not to exploit all this braking capacity. Vice versa it is sufficient to allow slightly longer stopping times to completely avoid using the brakes, that they almost become an emergency device. When you begin to understand how it works, the Dynamic mode, as well as being the most fun, becomes as efficient as the Eco Pro. Once you have vented your desire to always accelerate at full throttle, it is natural to start to partially throttle, also because in the city otherwise they would perpetually stopping speed, and with a little sensitivity you get a range identical to the Eco Pro. Given the exuberance of the engine, the presence of traction control was a must. The C Evolution is equipped with the Torque Control Assist (TCA), which limits torque to avoid loss of grip during acceleration. It practically always comes into play if the asphalt is not perfectly dry, in light of the performance it is capable of, it would become a danger for most of its drivers. Except for a hum around 80 km/h, the engine runs in total silence, to the point that, if they ever become the standard for moving around the city, electric vehicles will have to solve the "lack of sound" problem. Not only for the sake of the sound of the engines as we have known them until now, but above all for the danger towards pedestrians and other vehicles, who have no way of hearing them coming.

Ride and handling:

rating:  

It's not a featherweight, but the brakes and chassis are up to par

Of course, the dimensions and weight of the batteries are huge. I got off the stand i 265 Kg can be perceived, they are about twenty more than its brother C600 Sport, but the low driving position and center of gravity make the large size of the C Evolution manageable even by the weakest of drivers. When driving they are never a problem, among cars stopped in city traffic it is quite easy to handle, with a little familiarity you can slip it almost anywhere. The mirrors are foldable, a nice convenience because they reduce the width quite a bit when you park it in tight spaces and want to avoid damage. The brakes are excellent, when you want to use them, because if you want you can only exploit the engine braking generated by the recovery of energy in release, which already guarantees the C Evolution a reasonable ability to slow down. The front end is the same as the C600 Sport, with two 270 mm discs, combined with the now inevitable BMW ABS. The excellent chassis allows you to be as daring with the folds as with the Elica petrol maxi scooter, which we also had the opportunity to try on the track. Its action on the front is excellent, but it intervenes in a too invasive way when you apply strong force with the rear brake and go over a disconnect or a manhole, extending the braking distances too much. Potholes and manhole covers, if taken at speed, can also cause some difficulties for the front fork, which goes to the end of its travel in the most extreme cases. On the other hand, it's not a tiny thing and the incredible exuberance of the engine can make you want to raise the pace a little too much. To counteract the large load, the suspensions are rather stiff, this is evident in city driving, where bumps are not always "digested" perfectly if the driving style is aggressive. By driving it more carefully you enjoy the pleasure of total silence, you can hear the increase in speed only through the air and the noise of the tyres. It starts like a "normal" scooter, by keeping the rear brake lever pulled and pressing the start button, but there is no signal, as the engine has not the slightest sound, other than the change in layout of the instrument panel, the whose background becomes clear. The presence of the reverse gear, not so much because it is necessary, but because the electric motor can work without problems even with reverse motion. Hold down the R button on the left and use the throttle control. As we said, the aesthetic similarities with the C600 are limited to appearance, because under the skin it is completely different, based on the same structure as the battery packs, an aluminum load-bearing frame. Structure that imposes a sacrifice on the capacity of the saddle pad. Only one helmet can be stowed, in the compartment under the passenger seat. Given that, to obtain this space, it is quite high and decidedly less comfortable than other maxi scooters. The presence of the side stand with integrated parking brake is confirmed, as on its combustion engine brother, with a small dedicated caliper on the rear disc.

Price and consumption:

rating:  

So much innovation has an impact on the price, but consumption and management costs are negligible

15.750 €, this is its list price. Would enjoy theoretical state incentives of 2.544 euros (20% of the taxable amount), in light of the fact that it is a vehicle with emissions of less than 50 g/km of CO2. It's a shame that for 2014 they were available "up to capacity" and therefore only for a few lucky people. I am 5 year warranty on batteries, great news because, even if the data is not known and official, the cost of replacing the batteries is huge (there are those who speak of a figure close to 50% of the price list of the C Evolution). The other management costs, however, are negligible. The tax is paid on the nominal power of 11 KW (like a 125), insurance companies behave differently, but the premium is always convenient compared to a petrol scooter. The engine and transmission are essentially maintenance-free. The transmission is belt driven, but without a variator and other components subject to wear. The three battery modules consist of 12 cells with a single capacity of 60 Ah, which require 4 hours for a full charge starting from scratch, 3 with a 16Ah socket, while in just one hour you are already at 50%. A full tank (10 kW/h) costs less than two euros. THE'declared autonomy of 100 km, is surprisingly prudent and is a result that can easily be replicated even without limiting yourself in driving. We tried to carry out a test, going and returning from Milan to Como on the state road, and then continue using it without charging the batteries, reaching almost 130 km travelled, without remaining on foot. To obtain these results, in addition to limiting acceleration a little, the maximum speed must be reduced. In this case it would have been useful to be able to insert a limitation "via software". This is because, if the advantage of electric engines is the much better performance at low speeds compared to a combustion engine, as the speed increases the absorption becomes very high and the autonomy is drastically reduced. Unlike a scooter with a traditional engine, consumption is higher on the motorway than in the city by continuing to accelerate at full throttle when restarting. We also tried to seek the limit in the opposite direction, always using all available power. In this case the consumption rises to bring the autonomy to around 70 km, it seemed impossible to go below that. In daily use it is more likely that the range will remain between 100 and 120 km. Few if you are one of those who use the scooter even for longer journeys, because even a partial recharge is difficult to put into practice, but sufficient for the vast majority of users, who travel a maximum of a few dozen kilometers a day with the scooter . In a nutshell, with less than 2 euros for a "full tank" which is enough for around 100-120 kilometres, in terms of consumption you spend the same as a petrol scooter which could travel around 100 km on just one liter of petrol! However, the savings are only a collateral advantage, because the real reasons that lead to a possible purchase are to be found in other directions. In fact, it cannot be denied that the price of the BMW C Evolution is demanding, especially in light of the limitation that willy-nilly imposes battery autonomy, which effectively prevents wide-ranging use, which is instead possible with a "normal" high-powered scooter. gas. However, the fact remains equally undeniable owning an "object" like the C Evolution today is certainly a desire of anyone who has been lucky enough to try it. The performance, the highly innovative contents, the driving in total silence and with zero emissions, make it a certain item in a hypothetical list of vehicles that we would purchase if we had infinite financial resources. We could think for hours about which of the most exclusive super sports bikes and motorbikes to choose for this list, the C Evolution is instead without comparison of its kind, because in city driving it is the most fascinating and satisfying thing you can have available. So if rationally speaking the savings will never amortize such a high purchase price, if you can afford it we are sure that you will not regret purchasing the BMW C Evolution.

PROS AND CONS
We like it:
Performance, braking and quality of finish. 5 star recovery with honors

We do not like it:
High price, limits imposed by autonomy and charging times

BMW C Evolution: the Motorionline Report Card

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Test clothing:
Jacket: Urban Toucan Agos
Shoe: Stylmartin Sunset
Gloves: Tucano Urbano Squid 9801
Helmet: Givi 20.6 Fiber-J2