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[Richard230]

On the weekends I typically visit my daughter on my Zero, which is a round trip of 75 miles. Since I was planning on doing that again this weekend and I had not recharged my Zero since the last time I visited her, I decided to hook up a Kill A Watt meter and see how much 120V electric power out of the wall it took for me to travel 75 miles. I used 4.35 kWh. I am currently paying at the lowest tier $.26 for each kWh from my northern CA electric utility PG&E. That gives me a cost of only $1.13 to travel that distance, or about 1.5 cents per mile.

I have a couple of ICE motorcycles that if ridden at the same speeds over the same distance typically get about 50 miles per gallon of gasoline. One uses regular 87 octane fuel and the other premium 91 octane fuel. My local Union Oil station is currently selling gasoline for $4.04 for regular and $4.44 for premium fuel. So traveling that distance using regular fuel would cost $6, or about 8 cents per mile. Riding the motorcycle that needs premium fuel would cost $6.66, or almost 9 cents per mile.

Obviously these calculations are very general and no doubt my prices and riding conditions are likely unique, but I found the comparison between riding electric and ICE to be interesting and they should demonstrate that even with the high cost of electric power that I pay, electric travel still remains a lot cheaper than ICE travel - especially when also paying the highest cost for gasoline in the U.S., of course   

[Fran K]

In all fairness you should distribute the extra fee on your registration because of no state taxes paid at gas pump or at the wholesale level on a per mile used basis.  I guess the federal fuel taxes still are only showing up on the ice side.

I think 87 octane is around $2.90 a gallon and diesel 3.15 or so which is kind of closer than usual here in Northeast Connecticut.

I looked at the last electric bill here somewhere in the range of 300-400 Kwh a month and all fees taxes etc came up with $0.23 a kwh.  I have been doing the killowatt meter on the leaf blower it costs three cents for about 10 minutes, not sure what gas and pre mix would cost but the blower is at least 25 years old, doubt the batteries will go like that.

[flynnstig82r]

Thanks for this analysis, Richard! I think the even bigger issue that people almost never consider is that one of the biggest costs of owning a gas motorcycle is the major servicing, and Zero's have no valves to adjust, no fluids to change, no reason to take the bike apart every 6 to 12 thousand miles unless something goes wrong. Not sure how the math works out on that per mile, but it's got to be close to the fuel costs if not greater.

For me, going electric was something I always wanted to do, but I'm not sure if it will save me any money even though I came in at a low price. I was riding a 2011 Ducati Multistrada that I picked up for an astonishing $5,500. It's not great on gas, but my local trips are all by bicycle so I only ride it to go out of town about once per week. The major services on Ducati's are infamous, but it was 10k miles away and it was going to take me a long time to reach it. Given what I paid, I could have held onto it for several years without it depreciating past my purchase price. I currently have it listed for sale at $9,000 and hope to get $8,500 (or at least $8,000).

The Zero cost me $7,500, which was also a very good price but not necessarily priced under market given that it has 45,000 miles on it, so I'll only be able to sell it for the same or less. I use my neighbor's spare charger and pay them $15 / month and something on the order of $.30 / kWh. Given how few miles I ride, gas wasn't going to cost me much more than that on a monthly basis. Psychologically I do feel like my Zero miles are more guilt-free given that it gets ~350 MPGe on the highway, but the actual dollar savings are pretty negligible. So I'll likely be ahead of the Ducati on the servicing but behind on the depreciation. It's basically a wash financially.

I definitely appreciate the low-drama aspect of electric and will never go back to gas. Even things like filtering up to the front of a line of traffic feel much safer and more natural on an electric since I can't kill the engine by emergency braking if some jackass on their phone changes lanes in front of me and I forget to pull in the clutch. I just wish I could have some of the refinement of the Multistrada on my Zero. Oh well, can't have everything! Maybe in a few years Energica will make a sport-tourer or the aftermarket for their bikes will catch up to what's available on the S-platform Zero's.

[NEW2elec]

Wait, Richard you must have charged at your daughter's house because your not getting 18 miles per KWH.
The 4.35 kWh would cover 38 miles but not 75.

[Richard230]

Wait, Richard you must have charged at your daughter's house because your not getting 18 miles per KWH.
The 4.35 kWh would cover 38 miles but not 75.

Ouch!  You are right. I just forgot about that. You know how it is with free charging.  My Zero numbers need to be doubled to 8.7 kWh, $2.26 for the trip and 3 cents per mile. Still not too bad, compared with ICE. (I think I got that right.)

And flynnsting82r is right about servicing. I paid $200 for the initial 600-mile servicing of my Zero and $650! for the 600-mile servicing on my KTM 390 Duke.   

[Crissa]

My Zero costs me about 2¢ a mile, up to 3¢ depending on how much free juice I get.

-Crissa

[DonTom]

My Zero costs me about 2¢ a mile, up to 3¢ depending on how much free juice I get.

-Crissa

You're paying way too much for juice. My last 125 mile trip on my Zero DS cost me exactly $0.00. Free J-1772 charging is all over the Reno area. Even some here, such as at the Colfax train station, Clipper Creek HQ here in Auburn  and several other  places.


The places that charge for J-1772 are rare in the Reno/ CC/ Miden / Garnerville area,  but I think they do exist at a busy mall in Sparks, NV,  which I never used. Other  Free charge stations  within a quarter mile from there. Walking distance back to the same mall.

-Don-  Auburn, CA

[Crissa]

Sorry, I pay 31¢ a kWh at home.  And downtown outlets are expensive.

A Togo's let me charge last time I went to the dentist, tho.

-Crissa

[DonTom]

Sorry, I pay 31¢ a kWh at home.  And downtown outlets are expensive.

A Togo's let me charge last time I went to the dentist, tho.

-Crissa

Reno is only 11.7 cents per KWH. 15.6 cents here in Auburn, CA

-Don-  Auburn, CA

[princec]

Sorry, I pay 31¢ a kWh at home.  And downtown outlets are expensive.

At those sorts of prices home solar might make sense... I'm paying 17p/KWh here (about 23¢) and I've worked out that solar is almost exactly twice as expensive as it's worth to have installed, but if it electricity started getting seriously expensive like you're paying I think I'd get it sorted.

Cas

[Sklith]

Sorry about your expensive energy, guys

I'm charging at 4.5 c/kWh during off-peak, and that's after 400 kWh free for the month.

It's gonna be a while until solar starts making sense here.

[Crissa]

I live on the coast.  We don't have natural generation here anymore.  So it's expensive.  And I live under the canopy on the north side of a hill, so no decent solar, either.

-Crissa

[Eicas]

I have only had my SR/S for 2 weeks and am still developing my riding style.  Before I went electric I was using an average of about 4 gallons a week on my gas bikes this time of year, about $15.00 worth of gas.  Charging at home at 9.76 cents per kWh I expect that I will see some savings.

[Crissa]

Yeah, electrics are awesome for keeping errands and running around town on the cheap

-Crissa

[Richard230]

One thing I really like about my Zero is that you can just get on it and go. No need to warm up and a short ride will not cause a build up of condensation and acids in the crank case.