Electric BMW C1-E in Barcelona, 2010

This photo of one of the prototype BMW C1-Es was taken in 2010 in Barcelona. The man in the machine is Andy Mayo of Local Transport Projects Ltd, who kindly sent it to me and gave his permission for it to be reproduced here. He told me: "The photo was taken on 11th May 2010. It was part of the eSUM road safety project which we were involved with, for TfL" [Transport for London]. You can see the C1-E in action, being ridden around Munich by a helmet-free but seatbelted young lady in this short video. The German commentary mentions the eSUM project.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0OcovA9CpQ
The C!-E is actually a hybrid of the petrol C1 and the American/Polish Vectrix electric maxiscooter, and uses the latter's powertrain. The Vectrix and the C1-E use a swingingarm-mounted motor rather than a hub motor. The motor is mounted on the side of the swinging arm and drives the hub through a planetary gearset.
The C1-E is also much slimmer and lighter than the ICE original – note the plastic windscreen, with no wiper required since it can be looked over, in contrast to the very heavy laminated glass version on the petrol-powered machine.
PNB

Electric BMW C1-E in Barcelona, 2010

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It's a mystery....

Amazing thing the C.1 (E or otherwise). How could a company with so much knowledge of vehicle engineering, four wheels, two wheels, including FFs, get it so wrong?

And then, havng turned it into something of a sales success, proving you CAN sell anything, why did they not develop it? Can it really be true, as rumour suggests, that they killed it to avoid being sued for making their other "dengerous" two wheelers?

It's a mystery - now a historic mystery!