BMW News

    As they say: "Speed costs money. How fast do you want to go"? BMW has applied that maxim to electric bicycles too.

    BMW is now a presence in the electric bicycle segment, and here's a new, nifty pedelec, the Cruise e-Bike 2014. The Cruise e-Bike's white and black accented frame and overall design brings it neatly  into the premium segment. Fairly discrete BMW badges are placed on the anti-theft system, steering head and battery pack so the bike won't look too ostentatious. But then if people don't know why you spent all this money, what's the point?

    BMW Cruise e-Bike 2014 is powered by a 400 Wh battery pack which can be recharged to 50% in 90 minutes or fully during 3.5 hours. The battery feeds a 250W Bosch motor which puts 35.4 ft-lb of torque on demand. A full battery should provide up to 62 miles of assitance, though exact figures vary widely with the chosen assitance mode.

    The rider has to pedal for the motor to kick in, and assist level is anywhere between 0 and 225%, with the sensor arrays making 1000 readings a second.
    The cool factor is dramatically enhanced by the Turbo mode, which seems to smoke other similar bikes with ease, though draining the battery much faster.
    the bike weighs 48.5 lbs — about what the average English Bobby's Raleigh bicycle used to weigh in years back, complete with North Road raised handlebars, rod brakes and oil-bath chain.

    The Cruise e-Bike's price is probably the main deterrent: at $3,825, this will be found under the Christmas tree of only the very best-behaved girls and boys.—Paul Duchene