SCOOP! TVS Motor begins exporting made-in-India BMW CE 02 e-scooter

The Chennai-based TVS Motor Co, which has a longstanding and strategic partnership with Germany’s BMW Motorrad since April 2013 to manufacture sub-500cc motorcycles for global markets, has kicked off exports of the BMW CE 02 electric scooter. TVS began manufacturing the jointly developed CE 02 in October 2023.

As per electric two-wheeler export wholesales data released by apex industry body SIAM for FY2024, TVS Motor Co has shipped a total of 1,173 EVs overseas last fiscal. Between April 2023 and end-February 2024, the EV export total was 249 units comprising iQube electric scooters.

TVS Motor Co's March 2024 exports comprise 924 units of a product listed as ‘BMW EV’. It can be surmised that this product is the BMW CE 02 EV whose platform has been jointly designed, developed and built by TVS and BMW Motorrad. This is the second jointly developed platform after the 310 series which has spawned the BMW G 310 R, BMW 310 GS, BMW G310 RR, along with TVS’ flagship motorcycles, Apache RR 310 and Apache RTR 310.

It is understood the BMW CE 02 develops 15hp and has a claimed range of 90 kilometres on single charge. It weighs 132kg and has a claimed top speed of 95kph. Underpinnings are fairly simple with a double-loop steel tubular frame cradling the twin battery packs, suspended by a USD fork/monoshock setup. The BMW CE 02 uses a 296mm front disc, clamped down upon by a single-piston caliper and it only gets single-channel ABS. While the equipment is fairly basic, the CE 02 does get a single-sided swingarm and sends power to the rear wheel via a belt drive. 

The CE 02 has a decent feature list comprising keyless go, an LED headlight, a reverse gear and a 3.5-inch TFT dash with Bluetooth connectivity. Also standard are two riding modes – Surf and Flow. 

Optioning the CE 02 with the optional Highline accessory pack brings in a third even quicker Flash riding mode along with niceties such as a special colour scheme, heated grips and a phone mount. 

TVS exported 249 iQubes to Nepal in FY2024
Other than the 924 CE 02 EVs exported, TVS Motor Co has also shipped 249 units of its all-electric iQube scooter to Nepal, where it sells the zero-emission product through its authorised distributor Jagdamba Motors.

The TVS iQube scooter is witnessing strong demand in India and cumulative sales since the product's launch in January 2020 have surpassed 300,000 units this month. Of the record 944,000-plus electric two-wheelers retailed in India in FY2024, TVS sold 182,933 iQubes, registering sterling 125% YoY growth (FY2023: 82,108 units), giving it a retail market share of 19.37%, up from the 11.27% share it had in FY2023. 

Upping the ante on exports
TVS is fast upping the ante on two-wheeler exports. The company, which is India's second largest two-wheeler exporter after Bajaj Auto, shipped 887,774 units to overseas markets in FY2024. Exports comprised 22% of its combined domestic market and export sales of 40,44,824 or 4 million units in FY2024. TVS Motor products are already sold in over 80 countries in key markets across Asia, Africa and Latin America. In the past six-odd months, the scooter and bike maker has strategically entered new markets like Nepal, Vietnam, and France.

On November 16, 2023, TVS announced its entry into the European market and signed a pact for import and distribution with the Emil Frey Group. The two companies plan to use their collaborative efforts to enter into distribution arrangements for select EU markets, prioritising countries with strong two-wheeler demand coupled with existing Emil Frey infrastructure and resources to build the distribution network. France will be the first country for the launch, where an entire suite of TVS Motor products including ICE and EV models will be made available,starting this year. Is the produced-in-India CE 02 e-scooter to be sold there?   

All images: BMW Motorrad

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