BMW has experimented with various concepts of two-wheelers in the past. A peculiar one among these was the BMW C1 - a scooter with a raised roof to offer car-like protection. Even though the idea did not take off well with the buyers, the company now wants to give it another go. Only this time, it is patenting a whole new range of technologies to make the vehicle much more appealing.
Most notably, the revised attempt by the German auto major at the two-wheeler will include a set of air bags that will protect the rider on both sides. As per images seen in a patent application filed with the European Patent Office, air bags will extend from side panels of the vehicle in case of an accident, covering the rider from hips to shoulders. In addition, the air bags will extend outwards to cover the elbows of the rider as well.
To complement the air bags is a four-point harness style seat belt safety system to hold the rider in place at all times. As per a report by Cycle World, the shoulder straps on the scooter have ˇ°road-car-style inertia reelsˇ± so that they can move until jolted by an impact.
The airbags and the seat belts are just a couple of several features on the covered two-wheeler that BMW is reportedly in the process of making. The upcoming vehicle is said to be electric and can be converted into a regular scooter just by undoing a few bolts. Once out, the electric scooter will be an extension of the currently available BMW C Evolution.
There are, of course, ideas that BMW is pursuing based on its learning from the original C1. The overhead covering of the scooter,?for instance,?can be seen to be made up of carbon fibre in the patent. In the C1, this roof cover was made of Aluminium which added considerable weight on the scooter. Carbon fibre, in turn, is much lighter and hence will be more efficient in the upcoming edition.
There will, however, be a considerable air drag faced by the roof, no matter how light it is. To tackle that, BMW is using four movable winglets and a computer-operated stability system. Two each at the front and the back, the winglets will create downforce at different angles to create tilting forces for balancing out the wind drag.
While the roof is made of carbon fibre, the chassis of the electric scooter is of an aluminium platform covering the battery pack. To further make sure that the rider is safe within the hardened chassis in case of a crash, the company has added four ˇ°crumple zonesˇ± in the scooter.
These zones are crush-able sections that can take the maximum impact in case of any accident, in turn protecting the rider and the rest of the electric scooter from damage. One can consider them sacrificial parts for the larger good. For the same reason, these are made to be easy to replace.
BMW has paid heed to the possibility of rear impacts too and has hence used a strong cage inside the riderˇŻs seat to protect the spine in case of any accident. The seat back also has inflatable padded sections to act as shock absorbers in case of a rear impact.
As per the report, there are in total 15 new such patent applications filed by the company. Since the first hint at the electric scooter last year, the new patents mark a significant development in the idea, which only shows how serious BMW is about putting it into production some time in the near future.