BMW patents an innovative-looking new folding electric scooter

BMW hasn’t been shy about playing around with new electric two-wheeler designs, though the number that have actually made it onto showroom floors is significantly lower. This time we’re getting a look at a potential new BMW electric scooter that may actually make it to production.

The scooter’s folding design is simple yet clever, creating a platform that looks both relatively easy to produce and highly effective as an urban mobility platform.

A far cry from the company’s CE 04 and CE 02 electric scooters and motorbikes, this light electric scooter is of the standing variety, making it more cost-effective and transportable.

Our first look comes to us from patent drawings that show off a large-wheeled design with an innovative rear wheel folding mechanism. In addition to a typical handlebar stem folding point, a second axle in front of the rear wheel allows the scooter to tuck that wheel away in the center of the body, creating a more compact, folded setup.

The floorboard appears to pivot up and out of the way to allow for the rear wheel to swing under and through the center of the frame.

RideApart pulled out some specs from the patent, revealing that the motor’s power will be at most 500W, or “not more than 1400 watts if at least 60 percent of the power is used for self-balancing.” The patent doesn’t really discuss much of any intended self-balancing feature, so it’s unclear if we can truly expect to see any self-balancing tech from BMW here.

There’s no word on an actual top speed, but the patent does include language that mentions a 20 km/h (12 mph) German regulation for scooters. That’s of course rather slow for the larger electric scooter industry, and so BMW would presumably have faster versions for the non-German market.

We also don’t have an exact weight, other than a note that the scooter would weigh “not more than 55 kg”, which is pretty much a given considering that few people would want to use a 120 lb scooter that barely goes faster than a jog.

This isn’t BMW’s first venture toward a standing electric scooter, but is a much more serious design compared to the company’s previous weak sauce attempt.

That original e-scooter from 2019 was more of a partnership with scooter company Micro than a true BMW-developed scooter. Now we’re getting a look at what the motorcycle maker can do when it actually contributes to the design and engineering efforts.

There’s no telling if this BMW folding electric scooter will ever see the light of the day. But considering that BMW has turned even more far-out designs for EVs into actual products on their sales list, we shouldn’t rule it out.