Here’s the thing though. I arrived at the conclusion that buying both a car and an ebike is cheaper than buying a car alone, provided the bike replaces the car for the bulk of your trips. You save enormous amounts in fuel and maintenance. The amount of electricity you consume is a rounding error on your monthly bill while you need to budget for fuel when driving, and automobile maintenance costs are easily 10x higher than for a bike. And last but not least, you can go for a long time without replacing your car since you put so little mileage on it, and when you do go looking for a replacement, you can lower the bar in looking for a bargain. Since it’s something you will only drive sporadically, it doesn’t have to be great.
Here’s the thing though. I arrived at the conclusion that buying both a car and an ebike is cheaper than buying a car alone, provided the bike replaces the car for the bulk of your trips. You save enormous amounts in fuel and maintenance. The amount of electricity you consume is a rounding error on your monthly bill while you need to budget for fuel when driving, and automobile maintenance costs are easily 10x higher than for a bike. And last but not least, you can go for a long time without replacing your car since you put so little mileage on it, and when you do go looking for a replacement, you can lower the bar in looking for a bargain. Since it’s something you will only drive sporadically, it doesn’t have to be great.