BMW Patents New Folding Electric Scooters, Innovative Design

In 2021 BMW Group introduces BMW i Vision AMBY, the first high-speed electric bike for urban people. (Doc. BMW Group)

JAKARTA - BMW is familiar with electric two-wheeled vehicles, because it already has a number of e-bikes and electric scooters such as CE-04.

Most recently, BMW filed a patent for a new foldable electric scooter, similar to a trending electric scooter in Europe. It also comes with a platform that looks relatively easy to produce and is very effective as an urban mobility platform.

As reported by Electrek, Wednesday, January 17, the scooter patent image was revealed by showing off the large wheel design, as well as an innovative rear wheel folding mechanism.

In addition to the folding dot on the typical stembar part, the second axis in front of the rear wheel allows scooters to slip the wheel in the middle of the body, creating a more compact foldable setting.

In terms of performance, BMW said the scooter would be powered by electric hub motors on the front wheels. Power is declared no more than 500 watts, and the patent does not reveal whether to be embedded with self-balancing technology.

There is no real information about the highest speed, but the patent includes a language that mentions Germany's regulation for scooters reaching speeds of 20 km/h (12 mph). This is of course rather slow for the larger electric scooter industry, so BMW may have a faster version for markets outside Germany.

As is known, this is not BMW's first attempt at creating an electric scooter, but it is a much more serious design than the previous company's efforts. This 2019 original E-scooter is more of a partnership with the Micro scooter company than the original scooter BMW developed.

Although there is no release date for this new electric scooter, it is certainly interesting to see BMW working on micromobility devices like this e-scooter. Most likely, this tool will be sold in the European market, where e-scooter and e-bike quickly become an integral part of the transportation sector.