BMW files patent for shaft-driven electric motorcycle layout

Recent design patents show that BMW Motorrad is working on a layout for its upcoming electric motorcycles that features a longitudinallymounted electric motor and a shaft drive system.
- The design should offer more flexibility in terms of motor placement
- Likely to feature on BMW’s upcoming DC range of electric motorcycles
- Electric scooters and smaller electric bikes will feature a conventional belt drive system
We recently came across spy shots of the upcoming BMW CE 04 electric scooter being tested, and like the concept it’s based on, it seems to feature a motor that’s transversely-mounted in the middle of the scooter, with power then sent to the rear wheel via a belt-drive system. It now seems that BMW is also working on another powertrain layout for its higher-powered electric two-wheelers, with recent patent drawings showing a longitudinally-mounted motor linked to a shaft-drive system.
BMW electric shaft-drive system: origins
This would be in-line with a large chunk of the company’s petrol-powered lineup, which features a longitudinally-mounted boxer twin engine and a shaft-drive system. It’s also exactly the sort of layout that BMW implemented on its Vision DC concept as well as its E-Power Roadster prototype, both of which hint at the direction that the company will take for its high-power electric motorcycles in the future.
BMW electric shaft-drive system: advantages


