Photo: motorcyclenews.com
The BMW Motorrad Vision DC Roadster electric motorcycle, showed earlier this summer at the #NEXTGen event in Munich as a concept, turned very real last weekend in France, where a number of journalists were invited by the bike maker to witness a demonstration.
What the people there got to see was not exactly the DC Roadster presented a few months back, but rather a mix of existing BMW motorcycles and even cars, a model situated somewhere between the concept and a possible future production version.
BMW calls this monster E-Power Roadster. Visually, it blends the front end of an S1000R with the rear of an R1200RS, and mechanically mixes the battery pack of a BMW 2 Series plug-in hybrid with an electric motor taken from a variant of a long-wheelbase 7 Series that sells only in China.
According to Motorcycle News, the battery on the bike has an output of 13 kW and the motor develops 147.5 ft-lb of torque. Mix that with a build that weighs 290 kg, and you get acceleration times of 2.9 seconds to 60 mph.
For now, BMW did not say when it plans to launch the electric motorcycle, but the Head of BMW Motorrad Development, Christoph Lischka, hinted we’re still a long way away from that moment.
"We’re really happy with what we have achieved with the ‘C evolution’ (big scooter), but it is a solution for urban transport," the executive said according to the source. "This E-Power Roadster is a sporty bike for someone who wants to ride in the mountains and really enjoy the ride."
"For this person the bike needs to have 200km (124 miles) of range, so we won’t be releasing a bike like this until it’s capable of 200km-300km of real riding. Right now the market and the infrastructure to support such a machine isn’t ready.”
BMW calls this monster E-Power Roadster. Visually, it blends the front end of an S1000R with the rear of an R1200RS, and mechanically mixes the battery pack of a BMW 2 Series plug-in hybrid with an electric motor taken from a variant of a long-wheelbase 7 Series that sells only in China.
According to Motorcycle News, the battery on the bike has an output of 13 kW and the motor develops 147.5 ft-lb of torque. Mix that with a build that weighs 290 kg, and you get acceleration times of 2.9 seconds to 60 mph.
For now, BMW did not say when it plans to launch the electric motorcycle, but the Head of BMW Motorrad Development, Christoph Lischka, hinted we’re still a long way away from that moment.
"We’re really happy with what we have achieved with the ‘C evolution’ (big scooter), but it is a solution for urban transport," the executive said according to the source. "This E-Power Roadster is a sporty bike for someone who wants to ride in the mountains and really enjoy the ride."
"For this person the bike needs to have 200km (124 miles) of range, so we won’t be releasing a bike like this until it’s capable of 200km-300km of real riding. Right now the market and the infrastructure to support such a machine isn’t ready.”
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