How much have you spent on your ebikes?

[zombiess]

I'm in the process of building a second ebike based off a $20 yard sale full suspension 20" wheel kids mountain bike. I'm saving it from the trash pile and attempting to build it into a somewhat decent bike. I'm not using high end bike components but it looks like by the time I'm done I'll have about $1100 total into this bike which I don't think is too bad at all considering what the end result is.

Of that $1200:
$300 is six 6s5Ah Lipo cells, $400 for the motor and controller (I already own all these parts after changing my last build)

The rest is fixing up the bike, parts, new wheels, lacing the motor into a new wheel, etc. I basically paid $20 for the frame and am replacing everything else with parts I consider appropriate to a 30+ MPH ebike.

So how much have you spent on your ebikes? My first one ended up costing me around $2400 after a few small mistakes and then changes to go faster. $750 of that was just the bike. The knowledge I've gained from these builds is also excellent and something I feel is valuable as well.

It sure seems like the 2nd ebike is a lot cheaper than the first. Looks like for a total of less than $3500 (including all the gear I had to buy) I'll have two pretty nice full suspension ebikes.

 

[REdiculous]

I think I spent about $420 to build and electrify my trailer or a total of about $455 including the bike. Maybe as high as $550 if I count everything I got for free.

 

[dougnutz]

1200 for the kit, battery, and related stuff to make it like I wanted it. That was November, so far I have recouped ~$600 in gas savings alone... by next November I may be in the negative spending range. I'll have to correct that by upgrading I guess. Noone want to be in the negaitves

 

[jonathanm]

0 bike (was my wifes old commuting MB left out in the yard for ages - needed a lot of elbow grease to fix up)
15 chain
16 pedals
4 bottom bracket bearings
12 grips
230 motor kit
140 batteries inc shipping (lipo 14s 5ah)
10 bullet connectors
---------------------
$437


Charging setup:

180 hyperion charger
40 2 server power supplies
---------------------
$220 - could have got setup a lot cheaper, but I really like the hyperion.

Total of $657ish

I already had a multimeter, smaller PSU (too small) soldering irons, etc
I had a spare saddle, better front wheel, old tires, spare cables already.
I also sanded and painted the frame, "borrowed" the paint from a friend

Will be buying more batteries, watt meter, lights in the next round of spending.

 

[neptronix]

My first build was about $800..

cell_man 250w geared kit
10ah 10s lipo
icharger 1010b+
radio shack psu
bunch of various nick-knacks
and a $100 trek..

This build, if i would have started from scratch would have cost me about $1200 since i have about 30ah of 10s / 20ah of 15s, dual disc brakes, spendier motor, a meanwell, better bike, fabricated parts etc..

 

[FMB42]

My 1st new/cheap HT "MTB" based e-bike build ran ~ $800 (cost included $425 LiFePo4 36v 10a battery).

However, I plan on "sharing" the LiFePo4 battery used on this bike with at least 1 future build which, would result in an "adjusted" cost of ~ $575 (battery cost divided between 2 bikes = $212.50 bat cost per bike).

A proposed "future" BTR style build (using this same battery) shouldn't run more than ~ $900 (adjusted cost).

My "currently under construction" FS MTB (w/ Lipo or other "high current" and smaller sized battery) hopefully won't run more than...ah....let's not go there just yet...

 

[Red_Liner740]

350 for bike
466 for batteries/connectors and shipping.
318 for Magic Pie kit.
100 or so for charging setup.
100 or so for lights/road tires

this hasnt been finalized yet.

probably gonna upgrade front brake to hydro...

 

[wesnewell]

So how much have you spent on your ebikes? My first one ended up costing me around $2400 after a few small mistakes and then changes to go faster. $750 of that was just the bike. The knowledge I've gained from these builds is also excellent and something I feel is valuable as well.

Bike with tax was $109. 56 led headlight a 5 led taillight was about $9. Wireless computer was $8. Big ass seat for big ass was the best $32 I ever spent. 48v 500w motor kit was $227.90 shipped. 5ah 14s lipo was $114. $2 for bullet connectors, So that's $502, shipping included. I also got a Hyperion 1420i charger and 24v 600w PSU for about $200, but that's not really part of the bike.

 

[AussieJester]

more than i want to know about...

KiM

 

[heathyoung]

more than i want to know about...

KiM

Ditto. Could have bought a cheap postie (US - Honda CT110 - used by posties here in Aus) for what I have spent on my collection (it keeps getting worse too!)

Just saw my ebay spend for the last 60 days - $1,300, all bike stuff. Scarey!

 

[kriskros]

it would make an att ractive asset in a divorce settlement

 

[Willow]

...yep, far too much.

Could have bought 3 brand new Triumph motorcycles.

 

[zap]

Yall got deeper pockets than me.

Woody- $210
Pair of folding Curries- $200
Currie mtb- $50
Tres Terra Europa- $250
EV Global SX - $240

 

[zombiess]

Looks like I'm on the high side cost wise, but I'm pretty picky about what I wanted. Full suspension, good brakes, over 10 miles of range at 30+ MPH were all on the must have list. I'm just glad that unlike cars ebikes don't need as much maintenance and monthly fees, 1 to 7 years of payments, etc.

I have no current need for the 2nd one I'm building and feel kinda guilty about spending so much money on it when I should be saving, but I'm so darn bored so often and this gives me something to do / look forward to. Maybe I'll be able to get someone to go riding with me once it's done. I've put 400 miles on my bike since Feb, but only about 5 miles riding with someone else and that was before my bike was an ebike.

 

[wojtek]

yes exactly - Zombiess, please stop stressing us with this question!!!

 

[wojtek]

and feel kinda guilty about spending so much money on it when I should be saving, but I'm so darn bored so often and this gives me something to do / look forward to.

that is EXACTLY how i feel

I love this interview with Woody Allen - for him the "escape" is making movies, for me making ebikes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKLFcpATPjI

 

[dogman dan]

Don't wannna know, don't make me think about it.

But I do know it's at least 10x cheaper, if not 100x cheaper than hot air balloons were. Still very hard not to get one airworthy and go for it. Worth every penny if you have it.

Typical cost for a decent commuter, that is with 25 mile range, is about $1000-$1500. The lowest end is for the already have the bike, and took a chance on ebay battery category. Same price just about, for buying everything including the battery from a respected dealer in NA, and having half the range. ( 10 ah battery) A great deal depends on how much you spend on the bike itself. It can be $50, or $5,000.

For sure, both my commuters have now paid for themselves completely after 3 years of riding, and now I expect about 3 more years before I have to spend much more money. Doesn't mean I won't spend, just that I won't have to. At this point, it's basicly just keeping em in tires. Now that I think about it, I have three commuters now. Just built a longtail but it will share the existing pingbatteries.

You can get going very cheap of course, by watching the for sale sections like a hawk. You can get a 9c motor in 2812 winding now for a bmx for less than $150 shipped. Add a bargain used controller and throttle and you could be into a motor kit less than $250 shipped. Then dumpster dive some batts of any kind and off you go.

 

[KipMcSkipster]

I'm building my first, here's where I stand:

Bike (craigslist MTB): $100
New saddle/grips: $30
cell_man kit, shipped: $273
36V 15AH LIFEPO4/charger from ebay: $300

$703 so far, I know I still need a torque arm, battery rack, battery case, probably other parts to get it all assembled/mounted.

 

[John in CR]

How much have you spent on your ebikes?....A lot, especially considering what I wasted before I found ES, but it's still the cheapest hobby I've ever had, and the most rewarding too.

 

[zombiess]

How much have you spent on your ebikes?....A lot, especially considering what I wasted before I found ES, but it's still the cheapest hobby I've ever had, and the most rewarding too.

I have a high HP turbo 6.0L car I'm probably going to part out. Over the 6 years I've owned I'm into it for around $40K (including the car) and I'll probably get about $8K from parting it out. Figure it costs me a minimum of $3k a year to operate. Time for a new hobby.

 

[sangesf]

Let's see....
$200 Schwinn OCC Electric bike with 250w rear 20"
$280 eBay Ductape 36v 20ah battery won on auction
$390 eBay ductape 36v 21ah battery buyitnow
$200 36v 500w front 24" kit.
$100 controller with cruise and regen.
$100 front box for cig lighter, radio, speaker & rear battery box
$100 lights, turn signals and miscellaneous items
$30 odometer, etc

$1400 total.
20-24mph speed about 80 miles distance capable.

 

[Kingfish]

I think I am out of this league. I spent more in 2010 than the all the prior posts providing figures totaled. But then… I’m a scientist Jim, not a Doctor! :lol:

Actually I just recently escaped from the little white padded room...
No going back, KF

 

[Icewrench]

2 bux

 

[sangesf]

If you take into account, the learning curve (and ultimate broken items from stated learning curve), I've spent double or about $3,000 finally getting my bike perfect for my use.

 

[AussieJester]

more than i want to know about...

KiM

Ditto. Could have bought a cheap postie (US - Honda CT110 - used by posties here in Aus) for what I have spent on my collection (it keeps getting worse too!)

Just saw my ebay spend for the last 60 days - $1,300, all bike stuff. Scarey!

They are rugged lil bike, had 3 of them at an Engineering company i was working in the maintence
shop for back in the early 90's the yard was huge and had 4 workshops on it, we used the postie bikes to travel between them, had some fun times in the empty warehouse on the cement floors, made a lil speedway track lunchtimes was funtimes hahaha

KiM