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Trek launches its first throttle-controlled electric moped, fits two riders (electrek.co)
submitted 3 years ago by [M] to c/micromobility@lemmy.world
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[–] 8 points 3 years ago (1 child)

For what it is worth, Trek bikes are expensive. You are probably not buying a new adult Trek bike for $300. I went to their website and they have an electric bike that is $14k and they have cheaper bikes than this one that has a throttle. I think your price estimates in your math are low but I agree with your point. One reason that can make it hard to justify an e-bike is that they cost as much as a beater car but will get stolen pretty quickly in a lot of places if you are using it to commute/run errands/do anything that means your bike will be locked up for a long period of time.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    I love the idea of e-bikes, but I'm so sick of getting excited.. then seeing the price. I guess if nothing else it's emboldening me to build my own, without any government restrictions.

    Lol on my price estimates, I didn't realize it was a 650wh battery, I guess a good general rule is about $1 per watt hour on lithium ion/polymer. Realistically they're probably still making $1000 profit in each bike.

    Batteries are changing quickly right now, I think lithium ion/18650 is outdated at this point. Costco has some lithium iron phosphate 1300wh for $650 each basically a car battery that weighs 20 pounds instead of 50 pounds, and can be charge cycled 3500 times at full depth discharge.

    I just found two free bmx bikes last month, maybe this could be a fun winter project.

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