I want an electric scooter!
Feeling quite a bit better about circus stuff. Also not so crazy tired, which helps…
So I’m trying to figure out if I want to get an electric bike, something like these that have both petals and a motor. Basically, I want to sell my car and get a Vespa, but live somewhere it’d only be usable ~5 months of the year… So I feel like going part of the way, and getting something that’ll still let me save money on gas and that sort of thing, is a good compromise.
The bike is $750, which is more than I’d like to spend but still less than half of the least expensive Vespas.
Doing the math, I drive about 250 miles a month to and from work (~6 miles * 10 trips a week * 4 weeks, rounding to make the math easier) and my car gets about 25 mpg, so about 10 gallons of gas a month. Right now, that’s $35 a month, and looks to be going up (and that’s on good months where I’m able to get 25 mpg and $3.50/gal gas). So, over the five months I’d be using the electric bike, I’d save about $175 (5 months * $35) with all the above assumptions.
That means it’d take about 4 years to actually make back the cost of the bike (assuming gas stays the same) which does seem unreasonable, but giving it two years would mean the “actual” cost is closer to $400, which seems like something I would be willing to pay for a new bike, something I’m considering anyway. If I sell my current bike and get $50 or $100, it brings the cost of this one down a little more.
I could also get a kit that would go on my current bike, requiring some installation. Those are less expensive, closer to $400 or $500, but require labor to put them on and I do like the idea of a complete ‘package.’ I could switch the kit to a new bike, which is a plus, but that’s also more work. I do really like the look of the packages at ElectricRider, though. The amount of info they provide, and their use of standard parts, makes me feel like it’s people who enjoy what they’re doing and do it because they want to make a quality product, rather than trying to jump on a fad. I’m looking at the RoadRunner models, the cheaper of which is $599 plus shipping. (So about $650 total). That’s certainly not tons cheaper than the complete package, but I feel like I have more confidence in the product. And being able to service/replace stuff does reassure me…I still need to think about it, but I’m really tempted. It’s just quite a bit of money, and not actually a huge savings…hm.
Themocracy
[...] ordered an electric bike. I’ve been talking about this for a while (over a year, in fact) but I’ve always [...]