Last year we produced a blog piece discussing why switching over to an ebike for commuting was increasing in popularity and why you should consider making the switch! Amongst skipping traffic, getting exercise, shorter commute times, and environmental friendliness there was the little talked about point of how budget friendly commuting by ebike is and how much money you could save if you chose to commute via ebike.
Let’s be clear, we’re not just talking about saving on gas money. There are a whole host of other costs hidden inside your daily commute along with other ways in which not driving your car 30+ miles every day will save you money.
The Costs of Commuting Via Ebike
Before we delve into the saving you’ll make by not using your car everyday let’s look at the outlay for regular ebike usage. Our Level Commuter ebike comes in at $1,599. This is at the lower end of the cost spectrum for high quality ebikes, and it’s a great beginner to intermediate ebike.
The name, Level Commuter, is a great giveaway, and, yes, this bike is made for the commute and beyond. This is why we’re going to use it as an example here for what an ebike can cost you if you’re using it for your daily commute. So, to start, we have an initial outlay of $1,599.
Now, If we’re going to charge the ebike battery twice a day for our roundtrip: the battery has a capacity of 672Wh (watt hours), if we divide that by 1000 we’ll get kWh (kilowatt hours, the unit in which we pay for electricity). The national average rate per kWh is 13.19 cents. so:
672Wh ÷ 1000 = 0.672kWh
0.672 x $0.1319 = $0.0886
So if we round it up it costs you roughly $0.09 to charge your ebike! Double that because you’re charging it twice a day, to make sure it’s full for each leg of your commute, and that’s $0.18. Remember that this is the calculation of a full charge, if you’re not fully draining the battery with each leg of your commute (which you’re probably not - LEVEL battery has an average range of 40 miles per charge) then it’s going to cost you less. Also, you may be doing one of these charges at work so, all in all, you’re probably only paying for one of these partial charge cycles per day.
Even though we may be over estimating let’s continue with this number. The average American works around 230 days per year. So:
$0.18 x 230 = $41.40
That $41.40 to charge your ebike twice every working day of the whole year. Definitely less than a year’s worth of gas!
Next there’s the cost of maintaining an ebike. If you’re commuting daily on your ebike then you’re going to want to put 30-45 minutes into cleaning it every week so as to keep it running smoothly; follow our Ultimate Ebike Maintenance Schedule & Guide to ensure you don’t miss a spot. Besides weekly cleans it is recommended that you take your ebike for a tune up around every 6 months if you’re using it as a daily ride. These cost around $100 each -so $200 per annum- but are well worth it for keeping you safe and ensuring your ride is in the best possible condition.
Maintaining your ebike includes a few items that are above just the regular maintenance costs; after all, an ebike is a finely tuned machine. After 2 years of daily commuting, you will likely start to notice a diminishing range and probably want to replace it; that’s $500. Let’s also say that your tire costs, either for replacement tubes or tires themselves, comes to $60 per year.
Now lets total it all up and break it down: