Today is World Car Free Day! Maybe petrol prices have got you wondering if there’s another option? Does it make financial sense to get an e(Cargo)Bike in place of a car?
When I was looking at getting the Urban Arrow, I ran the numbers to see if it was possible to break even. I thought it might be a good comparison to share for anyone considering a car replacement or going car-lite.
I used a distance of 5000km per year or ~100km a week and then compared over a 5 year period. I’m currently riding the Urban Arrow 25km x 3 days a week, doing the daycare drop-off and commute to work (2 other days on a road bike). Plus sometimes up to 50km on weekends doing activities and grocery shopping.
While these calculations work for us, you might want to adjust values to suit your own current or future situation. If you’re doing a lot of short trips in the car under 5km, those are easy trips to consider replacing with an eBike!
Purchase price
For the sake of easy comparison I used the same value here. We have an old Skoda Octavia which is worth around $12,000 and the Urban Arrow Family is around the same price.
Smaller and cheaper eBikes mean even bigger savings if you’re not needing the space of an Urban Arrow.
Fuel / electricity costs (5 years)
Petrol: $2.22 / L (Victoria, Australia – September 2023)
Fuel efficiency: 7 L/100km (average for the Skoda)
Cost for 25000km: ($2.22 * 7 * 250) = $3885
Electricity: $0.29 / kWh (Victoria, Australia – September 2023)
Battery consumption: 1 kWh/100km (50km for a 500Wh battery)
Cost for 25000km: ($0.29 * 250) = $72.50
This is one of the biggest eye-openers – the car costs 50 times more than an eBike to fill up for the same distance. You could buy rooftop solar panels for that difference in cost…
Maintenance costs (5 years)
Over a 5 year period, the car would need 4 minor services ($250 each) and 1 major service ($600). As our Skoda is over 10 years old, I’ve budgeted extra for unscheduled repairs. I’ve allowed $1000 for things like tyres, brakes, and other things that could go wrong
Car services: $1600
Car unscheduled repairs: $1000
Anecdotally, the Urban Arrow goes through brake pads fairly often and would probably also need a couple of tyre replacements after 25,000kms. 4 sets (front and rear) of Magura 9P pads would run around $300, 2 sets of Schwalbe Big Ben Plus or Super Moto-X around $200. Also allowing for unscheduled repairs like a new Gates CDX drive belt and other items.
Bike brake pads and tyres: $500
Bike unscheduled repairs: $500
For our car the maintenance budget is 2.6 times more than the Urban Arrow. However, you may have a newer/more reliable car, or a cheaper mechanic so please try your own numbers here.
Insurance / Registration
Both bike and car insurance (for theft and damage) cost around $700 per year. Passenger vehicle registration in Victoria, Australia costs $900 a year – this is a big difference when bikes do not need to be registered.
Car insurance + registration: $8000
Bike insurance: $3500
Final running costs
I’ve assumed replacing a car of the same value, so ignoring the purchase cost and just focusing on the running costs.
Total running cost for an Urban Arrow over 5 years – $4,573
Total running cost for a second-hand Skoda over 5 years – $14,485
So swapping a car for an eBike could save you nearly $10,000 after 5 years. Not quite breaking even but you could assume 6 years would get you there!
Other Considerations
Bike rental, subscriptions and leasing? This might be a more viable option for some people, rather than buying up front. I haven’t done any quotes but guessing somewhere between $50-100 per week depending on what you go for. This can also include insurance and maintenance costs.
If you’re going totally car-free, what about road trips in a car? Budget Car Rental is around $60-70 per day or $450-600 a week. Uber Carshare shows a few local cars for $100 per day – so I guess that’s paying for convenience.
Cargo Bike Crew 
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