When does an E-bike become economnical

[Andreas_187]

There is no way in Hell I would put small kids in or on a bike on the ZA roads of today, no way!

Exactly right, I'm even fussy what car they ride in! LOL

[ChrisF]

How viable is the intended route for your wife? Any dedicated cycling lanes she could use? 

 

THIS is what is comes down to ....

 

Some sections are VERY dangerous to cycle in peak traffic !!

 

In the morning I am mostly earlier than the peak traffic, still have some interesting moments with limited space ....

 

 

I have certainly considered getting something like this !  Must be nice to get to work without the need for a "basin-bath" ....

[Pure Savage]

so... i can't comment on taking kids to school, but i've done the math on a normal MTB (which i would use for commuting rather than a road bike) and the answer is that it's not that cheap in R/km terms...

 

i typically get around 2500 km from a set of tyres so that means 4 x tyres in 5000 km's running.

 

on a MTB, you can budget on a chain and a cassette every 5000 and a fork service every 2500km.

 

In a 5000 km cycle, it would thus mean roughly R5000 for tyres, chains, cassets and fork service.

 

One will also realistically ride 20000 km on a bicycle over its life, so even though the capital is low, the depreciation rate is an order of magnitude higher than for a vehicle.

 

So, if you take a R20k bike, commute with it for 4 years @ 5000km / year, then it will cost you R20k for wear parts and you'll lose 90% of the R20k in capital, so it's R40000 or R2/km. More expensive bikes replaced more frequently... well that easily goes to R5+/km...

 

If we can trust our friends at AA, the all inclusive cost of running a car is ~R3/km. The major cost benefit of commuting by bike is that you tend to ride much less total km's...

That would be true on a mtb, where tyres and groupset are expensive. Here tyres are 350, chain 150, Single speed so not much wear and total cost of bike R9k. Drops the R/km to 1,50 less than R2 of what it costs in my car.

 

But all good points to consider

[RocknRolla]

I can weigh in on the one car household.

You will have to make compromises sometimes, if you are ever a fair weather cyclist, it all looks good on paper.

Sometimes you will not have use of the car for whatever reason, and at exactly that time it will either monsoon/ be freezing cold.

 

To me the E-bike only makes sense if you do not have a vehicle payment, and as stated then, as far as running costs, probably marginally cheaper due to maintenance. 

 

As for the kids on the roads debate, this is not really what the OP asked. It is a considering factor when debating the general safety of cyclists on SA roads. 

[Schnavel]

so... i can't comment on taking kids to school, but i've done the math on a normal MTB (which i would use for commuting rather than a road bike) and the answer is that it's not that cheap in R/km terms...

 

i typically get around 2500 km from a set of tyres so that means 4 x tyres in 5000 km's running.

 

on a MTB, you can budget on a chain and a cassette every 5000 and a fork service every 2500km.

 

In a 5000 km cycle, it would thus mean roughly R5000 for tyres, chains, cassets and fork service.

 

One will also realistically ride 20000 km on a bicycle over its life, so even though the capital is low, the depreciation rate is an order of magnitude higher than for a vehicle.

 

So, if you take a R20k bike, commute with it for 4 years @ 5000km / year, then it will cost you R20k for wear parts and you'll lose 90% of the R20k in capital, so it's R40000 or R2/km.  More expensive bikes replaced more frequently... well that easily goes to R5+/km...

 

If we can trust our friends at AA, the all inclusive cost of running a car is ~R3/km.  The major cost benefit of commuting by bike is that you tend to ride much less total km's...

 

While I understand your calculation and it makes sense, a single speed electric bike without shocks would definitely have a lower service cost, therefore running cost.

 

Also, how do you assume the average life span of a bicycle over 4 years to be 20000km? That's not very far for a bicycle. 

[Allrounder]

It depends, 

 

I bought my motorbike cash with a loan from myself. The 1300 rand a month that I save on fuel alone will pay the bike in under 3 years. 

 

But then I have extra insurance and running costs on the bike, and having a car in the garage that is not being used, is also a waste because of insurance, and it still requires an oil change. 

 

So the math is not clear, but it is way cheaper. I did commute to my previous place of work, and it was very lekke. They had safe place for your bike and warm showers, which meant I only took the car for a week when i was ill. 

[Pure Savage]

It depends,

 

I bought my motorbike cash with a loan from myself. The 1300 rand a month that I save on fuel alone will pay the bike in under 3 years.

 

But then I have extra insurance and running costs on the bike, and having a car in the garage that is not being used, is also a waste because of insurance, and it still requires an oil change.

 

So the math is not clear, but it is way cheaper. I did commute to my previous place of work, and it was very lekke. They had safe place for your bike and warm showers, which meant I only took the car for a week when i was ill.

Seems like a good thread then [emoji16]

 

 

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[Me rida my bicycle]

How many charges would you get out of that battery before it needs replacing? And I am guessing it won't be cheap.

I cycle to my workshop every now and then given it's only 5km away so not even a drop of sweat.

But now the master of the house phones and she asks if I don't mind stopping for xyz at the shop... And that's where the problem starts. If that happens I take my bike into the shop and push it like a trolley which people frown upon but there's no way I am leaving it outside locked to whatever.

Just in general if you want to go somewhere in lunch time or after work it's just a inconvenience and especially if you have a fork out 10-15k you can drive for quite some time on that.

But hey its just my opinion and experience around the matter.

[Thor Buttox]

All of these points are financially valid, but the reputational* risk of a Savage riding an e-bike should supercede all other considerations.

 

* - pulling up at KPMG not considered

[ChrisF]

How many charges would you get out of that battery before it needs replacing? And I am guessing it won't be cheap.

I cycle to my workshop every now and then given it's only 5km away so not even a drop of sweat.

But now the master of the house phones and she asks if I don't mind stopping for xyz at the shop... And that's where the problem starts. If that happens I take my bike into the shop and push it like a trolley which people frown upon but there's no way I am leaving it outside locked to whatever.

Just in general if you want to go somewhere in lunch time or after work it's just a inconvenience and especially if you have a fork out 10-15k you can drive for quite some time on that.

But hey its just my opinion and experience around the matter.

 

I need my car during the day, today I will do another 120km for work during the day.

 

But in the afternoon I look at the weather AND my schedule .... when the planets allign the car sleeps at work and I cycle home, and back the next morning ... JIP, commute bike lives in the office

 

 

However, all too often my schedule dictates that I need the car for something in the afternoon or the next morning.  We now have a project that requires me to drive 50km and be there by 7:30 every Wednesday ... will get hectic if I first commute to work, get dressed, have breakfast and then set off to be there on time .....

 

 

Commuting by bike is a LUXURY for me, not something I get to do everyday.

 

 

Clearly this does not apply to people with a constant office routine .... but they still need to pop into the shops to pick up bread and milk .... and gets old very quickly if you need to cycle home, then go to the shops .....

[V12man]

Unless you actually sell a car it will probably just cost more to have the ebike as well as the car in total... unless you lose more cost than just a saving on petrol it's not a cost saving.

 

Might make you feel good about saving petrol but it won't save money in total.

 

Do the numbers...

[ChrisF]

Unless you actually sell a car it will probably just cost more to have the ebike as well as the car in total... unless you lose more cost than just a saving on petrol it's not a cost saving.

 

Might make you feel good about saving petrol but it won't save money in total.

 

Do the numbers...

 

trying confuse us with facts .... ?    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

friend commuted for years, always said if his wife knew the real costs he would be back in the car .. 

[V12man]

trying confuse us with facts .... ?    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

friend commuted for years, always said if his wife knew the real costs he would be back in the car .. 

Confuse you... no....   I ride a scooter a lot to save fuel - but seeing as I kept my car my total cost went up....

 

I once worked out what my bicycle cost me to run per km - and it worked out higher than my discovery....  so I stopped working it out....

 

And then of course I wanted to buy a new coffee grinder... so SimpleDom pointed out the numbers.... probably a good thing.... 2800usd plus import duties etc/10000 cups over 10 years....

[Allrounder]

trying confuse us with facts .... ?    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

friend commuted for years, always said if his wife knew the real costs he would be back in the car .. 

Like al lthings in life, you can do it cheap, or you can do it expensive. 

Look at all the safetyboot commuters, is there really a cheaper option for them? is it not all our "bling" that makes cycling commuting expensive?  

 

If you guys want first hand knowledge of commuting and the cost there off, just ask Hairy...... 

[Hackster]

Have any of you considered the time factor?

 

If you can commute more quickly by e-bike than you can by car, surely there's a value to you in terms of your time?

 

You're also freeing up road space - lessening the traffic load.

 

I recently bought a scooter. My thumb-suck reckoning so far is that most city trips are a third shorter than they would be by car. If I was doing the freeway commute, I'd say half the time.

 

The scooter and gear cost about 20k all in, and I did seriously consider an e-bike and may still pursue that option once I sell my car. 

 

E-bike + scooter + Uber should meet most of my transport needs.

 

The only thing I haven't solved yet is a bimonthly client meeting 50km away. The 2-wheel options are not suitable and Uber is too expensive. 

[Grayskull]

Tell me more...

 

 

I have been using uber with some silly discounts at the moment for past 4 weeks. I have been paying R4 for a R35 trip. Its crazy.