Are Electric Bikes Way Overpriced

[foxychick]

Been taking a look at electric bikes and they seem very overpriced compared to the same specification as a non electric bike, some are between £1500 to £2000 more expensive than the equivalent non electric version.

[rjb]

The same elements that go into an electric bike are similar to a cordless electric drill.
You get a battery pack, motor, speed controller and a battery charger. The items on a bike are all seperate with a few extra safety features but this shouldn't significantly increase the price, so it looks like an electric bike should cost no more than an increase of £200 on a similar non electric bike.

[Cyril Haearn]

No they are too cheap

[Oldjohnw]

No they are too cheap

How is that?

[PH]

No they are too cheap

How is that?

They make too much noise going over his bridge.

[Jdsk]

No they are too cheap

How is that?

They make too much noise going over his bridge.

My guess is that if they were more expensive it would stop OTHER PEOPLE buying them and ENJOYING THEMSELVES.

Jonathan

[roubaixtuesday]

I suspect Betteridge applies here

There's a very large market now for electric bikes and lots of competition.

Why would they be overpriced?

(other than the fact all bikes are in short supply at the moment, so could be a short term effect)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridg ... _headlines

[Cyril Haearn]

They are too cheap like many other things, people buy too much stuff
Some on these fora may use them sensibly just to get up hill

But there are plenty of young rowdies who use them to go too fast*, they might go twice as fast as they would on a simple cycle

* speed kills

[Bonzo Banana]

EU puts a tariff of up to 80% on fully assembled ebikes from China so many have more local assembly either in mainland Europe or the UK which adds to costs. So maybe it will be one of the items that gets cheaper after January 1st depending on what tariffs the UK keeps. I did read that we may have a free trade agreement with Vietnam and they make many ebikes there so that could be a good source of ebikes.

Good quality battery cells aren't cheap though and leaving the EU without a deal will mean the value of the £ will take a hit at least in the short term so our buying power of imported goods will reduce although on the plus side exports will be cheaper maybe even enough to eliminate the effect of WTO tariff levels at least for the lower tariffs like 2.5% but outside the EU many goods will be much cheaper sourced from outside the EU.

Ultimately ebikes should become cheaper in the near future whether we get a deal or not.

[Audax67]

No they are too cheap

Yeah, since my usual cycling chum got one he's a right pain in the ass to ride with. Bloody things should cost twice as much.

[Oldjohnw]

Houses are too cheap. Why on earth should people other than me have one.

[reohn2]

No they are too cheap

How is that?

They make too much noise going over his bridge.

[reohn2]

Check out the price of this motorcycle:- https://www.honda.co.uk/motorcycles/ran ... ons.html#/ look carefully at the amount of engineering that goes into it or any other motorcycle FTM,and particularly Royal Enfield.
Compare them with the engineering that goes into e-bikes and it becomes apparent there's no comparison where actual value for money is concerned.
And yes I know there's other things to consider running a motorcycle but that's not part of the discussion,the question is,are e-bike way overpriced and the answer is.Yes,by a large margin.

[Boring_Username]

Check out the price of this motorcycle:- https://www.honda.co.uk/motorcycles/ran ... ons.html#/ look carefully at the amount of engineering that goes into it or any other motorcycle FTM,and particularly Royal Enfield.
Compare them with the engineering that goes into e-bikes and it becomes apparent there's no comparison where actual value for money is concerned.
And yes I know there's other things to consider running a motorcycle but that's not part of the discussion,the question is,are e-bike way overpriced and the answer is.Yes,by a large margin.

Utility motorcycles are typically bought by people on low incomes.
E-bikes are typically bought by people on high incomes.

I think that explains a lot of the difference in pricing.

[reohn2]

Check out the price of this motorcycle:- https://www.honda.co.uk/motorcycles/ran ... ons.html#/ look carefully at the amount of engineering that goes into it or any other motorcycle FTM,and particularly Royal Enfield.
Compare them with the engineering that goes into e-bikes and it becomes apparent there's no comparison where actual value for money is concerned.
And yes I know there's other things to consider running a motorcycle but that's not part of the discussion,the question is,are e-bike way overpriced and the answer is.Yes,by a large margin.

Utility motorcycles are typically bought by people on low incomes.
E-bikes are typically bought by people on high incomes.

I think that explains a lot of the difference in pricing.

You're probably right in part,but not all e-bikes are just toys,some are or could be a means of transport were the price right.
That said electric motorcycles are grossly overpriced and their range limiting .