BMW’s new X2City isn’t easy to classify. It looks like a child’s scooter. It’s electric. It’s road-legal in Europe for 14-year-olds and above and requires no licence or helmet. It’s going to cost about €2500.
That’s a lot for a toy. But with a 25 to 35km range (15-21 miles) and a top speed of 15mph the X2City the sort of thing that might actually make some sense for a short city commute. Of course a bicycle could achieve the same. But the X2City means you’ll arrive without being drenched in sweat.
It slots into the fast-growing ‘pedelec25’ class of vehicles. They’re legally restricted to 25km/h (15mph) and can be used by anyone over 14 without the need for a licence or a helmet. They don’t need licence plates and in most ways are considered in the same light as a bicycle. But the fact they’ve got an electric motor means they could pull people towards motorcycles as they grow older.
The X2City has been developed in association with ZEG, parent of brands like Kettler, Pegasus and Hercules. It won’t be sold through BMW dealers but through bicycle shops and online via Kettler.
To ride it, you need to get it up to at least 6km/h by foot before activating the motor. It has five speeds – 8, 12, 16, 20 and 25 km/h – selectable from the bars. A brushless hub-mounted motor powers the rear wheel using a 408Wh li-ion battery. Touching the (disc) brakes deactivates the electric drive, and the battery takes 2.5 hours to charge using a conventional socket. It even has a USB socket to charge your phone on the go.
Presumably BMW expects it to be bought by city-dwellers. Its bars are foldable, so it can easily be taken indoors and needs no parking facilities. It could also be kept in the boot of a car, to be used for the last few miles of a longer commute to save on congestion charges or city parking costs.
Or perhaps it will simply end up being used as a high-priced toy.
