How Much Does It Really Cost to Recharge an Electric Bike ?
With the current times and the war in Ukraine, the prices of gasoline and diesel keep rising.
Have you ever calculated how much it costs to recharge your electric bike?
How to Calculate the Cost of an E-Bike Recharge?
Since the battery of your bike has a capacity expressed in Watt-hours (Wh) or Kilowatt-hours (which is 1,000 Wh, noted as kWh), you can easily calculate the cost of a recharge by multiplying this number by the price of a Kilowatt-hour in your region.
- Battery Capacity
The capacity of your battery is directly listed on it. It is also specified in your bike’s user manual.
Redsport bikes come with batteries ranging from 500 to 618 Watt-hours (that is, 0.5 to 0.618 kWh) – these are high-quality batteries with a long range, capable of going up to 120 km on a single recharge.
For comparison, here’s how much your household consumes annually:
- 2-room apartment: 1,600 kWh – or 2,600 batteries
- 4-room apartment: 2,500 kWh – or 4,050 batteries
- 5-room house with electric water heater, dryer, and electric heating: 25,000 kWh – or 40,450 batteries
Source: Federal Electricity Commission ElCom
- Electricity Price
The electricity rate in Geneva for a normal household with typical consumption in 2022 was 21.5 CHF cents per Kilowatt-hour.
Here are a few examples of rates in 2022 for the French-speaking part of Switzerland:
- Lausanne Industrial Services: 20.36 ct/kWh at a fixed rate, or 15.03 to 24.56 ct/kWh depending on off-peak or peak hours and whether the energy is from renewable sources.
- Geneva Industrial Services: 23.16 ct/kWh at a fixed rate, or 16.62 to 34.16 ct/kWh depending on off-peak or peak hours and whether the energy is from renewable sources.
These figures are similar across Switzerland, e.g., Romande Energie in 2022 for Vaud: ~20.92 ct/kWh, or 15.10 ct to 23.72 ct depending on off-peak or peak hours.
Just a Few Cents to Ride a Bike!
Using the above rates, we get:
- Minimum: 0.5 kWh battery x 15.03 ct/kWh in Lausanne during off-peak hours = 5.515 cents
- Average in Vaud: 0.618 kWh battery x ~21.5 ct/kWh = 13.29 cents
- Maximum: 0.618 kWh battery x 34.16 ct/kWh in Geneva during peak hours with solar energy = 21.11 cents
Assuming an intensive daily use of one battery to commute to work, we multiply the above numbers by 20 days. This results in a cost between CHF 1.10 and CHF 4.22 per month, which is equivalent to 0.5 to 2.5 liters of gasoline!
Conclusion: riding an electric bike costs about the price of a restaurant meal per year!
Are you now ready to leave your car or public transport behind for your short trips?
If you're still having doubts, also think about the planet and the time savings that await you.
