Alternatives to EV cars; Electric Bikes, Scooters, & Skateboards
 

If you're not ready to write a check for an EV car, what about other forms of EV transportation?

Are any of you thinking about OR already have electric bikes, scooters, or skateboards?

If so, what's going through your mind on the subject, when you're not thinking about sex?

I looked in to an electric motorcycle, because for some reason, they are rated to achieve at least 4 times the FE as a gas model that is relatively FE; whereas an an e-car may achieve only slightly more than two times. Zero claims up to 270 mpg-e on the highway on their highway-suitable street model. I've got a Honda CTX 700 that is amazing for a mid-sized gas bike; achieving mid to upper 70s commuting.

But still too many roadblocks. Claimed range is just slightly higher than my daily commute with the biggest battery pack option. My current range is 200+ miles. I'd like to see published range near 100 to feel comfortable with 58 miles per day commuting, day after day, year after year. I'm skeptical of all e ratings. Think they're mostly exaggerated and decrease over time.

$17K versus $7200.

Only two styles: sport or adventure.


Battery replacement would break the bank even more.

But compared to an e-car, I still like it. Charge with a standard plug and outlet. No more than 2 cents per mile, but I'm just not in an income bracket to seriously consider one.

Motorcycles aren't tested like cars are for fuel economy.

The only electric car that I desire is a used Cadillac ELR, but they are still $40,000 which is out of my price range.

I test drove a '12 Zero S electric bike a few years ago and it was very nice, but nothing special. It was fast enough and very quite. Used Zeros go for around $6,000. The problem is that now that I'm older I have less time for riding, and when I'm on my bike during a sunny day I want to be on something fun rather than a bike that's just ok. Electrical cars and bikes are still expensive relative to gas cars. I test drove a '16 BMW R1200R bike last year, it's been stuck in my head ever since; very special bike.

The latest issue of Car And Driver had an article on the long term Tesla Model S P85D, they drove the car for 40,000 miles and recorded all the maintenance. The maintenance cost was the same as any other gas car with that many miles (air cabin filter changes, brake fluid change, frequent tire changes since the car is 5,010 lbs, etc.). "We averaged 69MPGe, well below the EPA's 93 combined MPGe. With electricity at a national average of 13 cents per kWh, running our Tesla cost the same as driving a 38mpg car with gas at $2.40 per gallon."

This is REALLY good and most interesting information, Luv2Spd. Thanks!

"We averaged 69MPGe, well below the EPA's 93 combined MPGe. With electricity at a national average of 13 cents per kWh, running our Tesla cost the same as driving a 38mpg car with gas at $2.40 per gallon."

That is still a lot better than what they would get in a comparable car that likely wants premium gas.

Long term, what about the "cost per mile" of replacing the battery? I know that's a grey area, given no-one is sure exactly how long the battery will last, and depends on journey type, mileage, frequency of charging, climate etc, and prices are continuously dropping, but must be a consideration no?

I want to work out the UK cost of electricity and compare...

Regarding deprecation costs, for some odd reason the Tesla did not have a line item for depreciation, financing and insurance even though all the petro cars in previous long term tests had them.

For the Tesla test they used 21" factory summer rims and 19" factory winter rims. With the car being so heavy and the low profile tires, they had to repair the rims 5 times and also had to replace the tires because there were tears in the sidewall. The test was mainly done in Michigan which has similar weather to Canada with a bunch of pot holes.

When the magazine did the long term test with a 2015 BMW M3, the depreciation cost was the highest cost. They also mentioned that the $8,150 carbon ceramic brakes were useless on the street, it's only worth getting if you track your car all the time.

2015 BMW M3 depreciation costs 15,000 miles per year:
Year 1: $27,325
Year 2: $7,050
Year 3: $6,300
Year 4: $6,250
Year 5: $4,700
TOTAL: $51,625

The 5-year estimated cost of ownership came to $99,852 with the assumption that the car was going to be driven 15,000 miles per year and the data based on 40,000 miles of testing.

WOW! That's a disgusting waste of financial resources. And, that doesn't count annual maintenance costs. To put that in perspective, if you had bought US$1,000 of first issue Microsoft or Winnebago stock you'd be worth millions today.

Marijuana stocks are now trading on the Penny Stock Market. You might want to drive a more modest car and drop US$1,000 each into various stock offerings.

Based on the cost of petrol 123.9p/litre, Electricity 20.5p/kW here, a Model S would cost me £1000 a year in electricity over 10,000 miles (10p per mile) My current car costs me £1660 per year in fuel (16.6p per mile) according to Next green cars fuel cost calculator.

Not sure about the other factors, but I think overall a model S would be slightly cheaper to run here given the high fuel costs, but then it's a very expensive car to begin with.