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Batteries are changing quickly right now, I think lithium ion/18650 is outdated at this point.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.