My 1,000km Electric Bike Review

Having purchased an electric bike for commuting to work just before Covid, it has taken a while to get up to 1,000km - but having finally achieved this (quite small) milestone (or should that be kilometre-stone?) I thought this was a good point for sharing a few thoughts on this emerging semi-active semi-affordable personal transport option.

My commute

My journey to work has been a simple 5km, so a 10km return. As the office has opened up and become a thriving hub again (the Arup office in Melbourne is approaching full once more most days of the week) it has therefore taken approximately 100 days of cycling to work which has been spread out over several months. I’m in the office most days now and it feels great to consistently be cycling in again, particularly after a couple of relatively sedate years.

Why an e-bike?

The intention in buying the electric bike was to replace the train which was always too busy and didn’t feel as nice as cycling, but also to take the effort out of the ride. This helps me make the decision everyday in favour of cycling, particularly after a hard night with the little kids at home.

It doesn’t make it any quicker than normal cycling, particularly as I’ve left the 25 km/h limiter (ozzy rules) on like a good boy. The keen road bikes storm past me still but I keep similar pace to those commuting in shorts and t-shirts travelling similar distances, I just don’t put in as much effort.

Which Bike

I punted for an SFX e-bike off Kickstarter from the USA which took a long time to be fulfilled in the end due to Covid supply chain complications early on in the pandemic and the typical Kickstarter delivery pains, but it didn’t really matter as once it arrived I was limited to a 5km radius and an hour outside everyday in any case.

The bike is single speed with a belt drive - no messy chain - and an integrated battery in the frame so it’s really low maintenance and doesn’t draw too much attention. It actually looks remarkably similar to my other bike which is just used for local runabouts where street parking is required.

There are loads of options these days and there are so many people already using e-bikes, particularly families carting kids around I've noticed. The Tern GSD is hugely popular in Melbourne and is even available to rent as a way to try before you buy through Lug and Carrie in Melbourne. The Cargobikes store in Brunswick has an awesome selection too.

Key Differences

For me I’ve found it transformative in my commute, as I no longer need to shower at work upon arrival and can even cycle in my work clothes when weather is favourable - with the motor assist taking the hills out of the equation effectively and the belt drive keeping my clothes grease free. It feels very Dutch.

This also means I can cycle to meetings across the city with ease provided I can find somewhere secure to put my bike. Unfortunately this is usually behind a reception desk or in a mailroom, secure visitor bike parking needs to become a thing…

It’s a bit heavier but other than that it’s essentially the same as any other bike. The motor assists only when pedaling so there is no throttle or additional controls to get used to.

Charging challenges

The bike’s battery is 7 amp hours at 36 volts which translates to 252 watt hours or 0.252 kWh. I find converting to kWh makes it easier for comparisons to other benchmarks such as a Tesla electric car which has ~80 kWh or a Tesla Powerwall battery which has ~14 kWh. So my e-bike’s energy storage is tiny by comparison - only enough to run a microwave for 15 seconds!

This tiny battery gets me reliably 30 km, so for each day’s 10km return trip I’m using 0.084 kWh which at 30c/kWh amounts to 2.5c or just over 1 English penny. A mere few seconds of a microwave’s burst of energy per trip.

It surprisingly takes a few hours to charge, but the important trick is finding a location that is safe and secure with a general power outlet as my battery isn’t one that can be removed from the bike to charge it up. When I kept my bike in our apartment’s storage cage there was an overhead power outlet for the ventilation system which I piggy backed off and there is a spare socket in one of the bike parking rooms at work. I’ve recently moved and there’s a plug on the balcony where I keep it which works too, but there won’t be plugs available in all bike parking areas necessarily.

Having a removable battery is the best solution for charging but does compromise the appearance of the bike and exposes it to the weather, so I don’t anticipate either option winning out ultimately. Designing bike parking areas in apartments and offices for both types of e-bikes (and the increase in the number of cargo bikes that e-bikes are leading to) will be needed to accomodate this future.

Range anxiety?

Although 30km is a tiny range, my understanding is that it’s a delicate balance between additional bike weight and expanding the energy storage, and for my bike the battery is stuffed into the frame so I suspect that was a limiting factor too. I’ve noticed they have already upgraded the bike to incorporate a larger battery taking the range to a more appealing 40km.

The manufacturers quoted range of ‘up to’ 80km is a bit of a dream, presumably assuming it’s used with less motor assistance. So yes, if I put in more effort I could get more out of it, but that’s not really the point. I spoke to a technician at an e-bike store and the e-bikes typically store data on how they are used, apparently everyone rides them like I do, at maximum assist, all of the time. Made me feel better about my laziness.

The bike also works without a battery, but you can really feel the additional weight (my bike is on the lighter end of e-bikes at ~15kg) and is only a good last resort as my bike is single speed. I am careful to avoid this and charge up every time I return it home which is easily done.

Costs

Given I am offsetting a AUD$9.20 daily fare for the return train (public transport is quite cheap in Melbourne, this is our flat rate for all types of transport across the whole city and suburbs) a ~$2k e-bike cost pays for itself within a normal year.

This potentially extends to a year and a half if applying the even cheaper AUD$5.52 daily fare cost which you can access if you commit to riding the train everyday of the month and prepay. I rarely paid the cheaper rate however as I liked to mix up commuting on the train and by bike before.

You can still pick up a good e-bike these days for AUD$2,000, with some on offer for as low as AUD$1,300 glancing at Google. Once you allow for a bit of additional kit, insurance and a bit of maintenance I think a 1 to 2 year payback is a reasonable expectation. Or if thinking about it another way, you could be up to $8,000 better off after 5 years in Melbourne, or more in places with more expensive public transport such as Sydney and London.

The cargo E-bikes that can carry all the family cost a lot more so to make a business case for those I think you need to be replacing a car. Can’t put a price on exercise, fresh air and veggie burger powered fun though….Now to convince my wife we need one of those too…