Rising Fuel Costs Influence The Decision to Buy Electric Motorbikes
This time last year a litre of petrol cost £1.15 and a kWh (or unit) of electricity typically cost 15p. In recent weeks we've seen petrol reach around £1.45 per litre (up 26%), and electricity typically costs around 21p per kWh (up 40%). These changes have, at least for the time being, slightly closed the huge gap between the cost per mile or running a petrol vehicle vs an electric vehicle. That said, a fairly large petrol motorcycle delivering 50 mpg now costs 13p per mile, whereas an electric motorcycle with comparable performance now costs 2.8p per mile, which is the equivalent of around 230 mpg. Whilst that's a massive saving of around 10p per mile, the savings can be far greater for those with bikes in the 11kW category, where equivalent running costs can be close to 500 mpg.
Unlike petrol, which is subject to taxes of around 57% with the combined effect of fuel duty and VAT, electricity is subject to VAT of just 5% and benefits from the Government's Energy Price Cap. Electricity is also easily dispensed from our homes, offices and many other public locations, whilst petrol relies on delivery tankers, which can be affected by driver shortages and occasionally, industrial action, both of which cause prices to rise further.
We have revised the running costs across all our product pages to reflect what most people will be paying as of November 2021 and will revisit these costs periodically when prices move, hopefully downwards as well as upwards. The reassuring news is that electric remains a massively more cost-efficient and eco-friendly way to travel, especially as the UK is making great progress in its transition to renewables. In 2020 these accounted for 43% of the UK's electricity, whilst fossil fuels accounted for just 38.5%. Nuclear, which is an ultra-low carbon source of electricity, combined with renewables accounted for 59% of the UK's electricity.
In summary, aside from the smooth, quiet and seamless riding expereince of an electric motorcycle, they remain the cleanest and most cost effective mode of transport by a considerable margin. If you haven't yet experienced an electric motorcycle please arrange a test ride on one of our many demonstrators to experience the benefits first hand.