For what it is worth, Trek bikes are expensive. You are probably not buying a new adult Trek bike for $300. I went to their website and they have an electric bike that is $14k and they have cheaper bikes than this one that has a throttle. I think your price estimates in your math are low but I agree with your point. One reason that can make it hard to justify an e-bike is that they cost as much as a beater car but will get stolen pretty quickly in a lot of places if you are using it to commute/run errands/do anything that means your bike will be locked up for a long period of time.
I love the idea of e-bikes, but I’m so sick of getting excited… then seeing the price. I guess if nothing else it’s emboldening me to build my own, without any government restrictions.
Lol on my price estimates, I didn’t realize it was a 650wh battery, I guess a good general rule is about $1 per watt hour on lithium ion/polymer. Realistically they’re probably still making $1000 profit in each bike.
Batteries are changing quickly right now, I think lithium ion/18650 is outdated at this point. Costco has some lithium iron phosphate 1300wh for $650 each basically a car battery that weighs 20 pounds instead of 50 pounds, and can be charge cycled 3500 times at full depth discharge.
I just found two free bmx bikes last month, maybe this could be a fun winter project.
For what it is worth, Trek bikes are expensive. You are probably not buying a new adult Trek bike for $300. I went to their website and they have an electric bike that is $14k and they have cheaper bikes than this one that has a throttle. I think your price estimates in your math are low but I agree with your point. One reason that can make it hard to justify an e-bike is that they cost as much as a beater car but will get stolen pretty quickly in a lot of places if you are using it to commute/run errands/do anything that means your bike will be locked up for a long period of time.
I love the idea of e-bikes, but I’m so sick of getting excited… then seeing the price. I guess if nothing else it’s emboldening me to build my own, without any government restrictions.
Lol on my price estimates, I didn’t realize it was a 650wh battery, I guess a good general rule is about $1 per watt hour on lithium ion/polymer. Realistically they’re probably still making $1000 profit in each bike.
Batteries are changing quickly right now, I think lithium ion/18650 is outdated at this point. Costco has some lithium iron phosphate 1300wh for $650 each basically a car battery that weighs 20 pounds instead of 50 pounds, and can be charge cycled 3500 times at full depth discharge.
I just found two free bmx bikes last month, maybe this could be a fun winter project.
Oh, and the new sodium batteries are now on Alibaba insanely cheap - so your point about battery tech is solid.
I have the ion battery my bike came with and 2 LiFePo4 batteries ( 20ah @17lbs & 35ah @27lbs ).
I think for the average person if you have a bike the a lot is a GREAT way to go.