I am sad to report that I don’t yet own an electric car. In my opinion, if you’re shopping for a new car, and can afford something north of $30,000, an electric vehicle should definitely be a consideration. However, until my current car stops getting the job done, I’ll delay my EV decision, in hopes that prices come down a bit more.

That said, there is still an opportunity to join the e-vehicle transition at a much lower price point. Enter the ebike. With rising gas prices, and the normal cost of tolls for me, an ebike at $1000 will more or less pay for itself if I can ride it to work ~100 times. Over the course of three years, that averages out to less than one ride to work per week.

ebike example from a Greek manufacturer — My first experience with an ebike was on a vacation in Greece with a Greek brand ebike

ebike Basics

For those that don’t know, an ebike is a bicycle that can be powered mechanically (by you pedaling) or with assist from an electronic motor. Combining the efficiency of cycling with a motor that can help with hills (and not arriving to your destination a hot mess) gives the best of both worlds.

However, there are now so many types of ebikes out there, it’s daunting to choose one, and you quickly can go down a YouTube rabbit hole of reviews, equipment and information overload. I’ll lay out a numerical way of comparing ebikes that worked for me, and you can add your own preferences to it, hopefully to select an EV of your own.

ebike Score Factors

There are six important factors I considered in my ebike score:

Price
1. What it is: The cost of the bike
2. What direction it should go: Lower is better
3. Range: This score was developed for ebikes in the $1000 - $2000 range. More testing is needed for higher cost ebikes.
4. Units: US Dollars
Range
1. What it is: How far the bike can go on a single charge. For simplicity, if a range is given, I used the average of the high and low values. Many other metrics could be used in place of range - particularly battery size and motor power. However, the most important result of both are how much practical range they achieve.
2. What direction it should go: Higher is better
3. Range: Bikes can range between 20 miles and 100 miles+
4. Units: Miles
Top Speed
1. What it is: The highest speed the bike can reach
2. What direction it should go: Higher is better
3. Range: Bikes can range between 15 and 28 miles per hour+
4. Units: Miles per hour
Weight
1. What it is: The weight of the bike unloaded
2. What direction it should go: Lower is better
3. Range: Bikes can range between 20 and 60+ pounds
4. Units: Pounds
Style Rating
1. What it is: A subjective rating of how apealing the bike is to you
2. What direction it should go: Higher is better
3. Range: 1 = Ugly, 5 = Beautiful
4. Units: None
Drive Type Rating
1. What it is: An evaluation of how complicated the bike will be to maintain and consideration of the different options available. On the high end, a belt drive is the simplest to maintain. On the low end, a single speed geared bike is simple to maintain but limited in how it’s used (for example, inability to switch gears to assist in climbing a hill)
2. What direction it should go: Higher is better
3. Range: 2 = Single speed, 3 = Multiple gears, 4 = Belt drive plus gears, 5 = Belt drive only
4. Units: None

ebike Score Formula

To include the six factors, the goal was to create a score that would not be limited by technology improvements and easy to understand. The score uses readily available information and the lower the score, the better. To calculate it, you want the price to be low, and tradeoffs between range, top speed and weight are offset by the subjective style and drive multipliers. I can’t say that this has been validated through any systematic method, but hey - this is a free blog post, what do you want? I’m putting this out there to see what others think and what other factors you would include.

Ebike Score = Price / ((Range + Top speed + Weight)*(Style Rating +Drive Type Rating))

The bikes considered in my evaluation were in the $800 - $2000 range. There are a lot of other options out there for a lot more money, but the same formula could still apply.

Bikes evaluated included:

What you’ll have to decide for yourself

The ebike score above includes factors that will be important for every ebike. However, there are a few that will tip your decision one way or the other regardless of the score:

Is the ebike available in my country? Having to have a bike shipped from another country will increase the cost if it’s not, but it’s also nice to have maintenance options close by
Is the battery removable? I gave high style points to the bikes that didn’t look like a tank rolling down the street, but it is important for where I live to not have to have the entire bike close to a charger to replenish the battery
Do I want to be able to use the bike without any electric assist? ebikes make riding a bike a lot more manageable, however, if you want some fitness benefit from your bike, that may not be a primary need. Having a light and capable bike (gears available) could be a benefit to you.
What accessories are included? Bikes like the Propella 7S get a high ranking due to the lower price, but that could be negated by the need to buy accessories like head/tail lights, fenders, front/rear racks, saddle bags, etc. Some bikes include these and some don’t. Depending on your needs that could be a positive or a negative.

My ebike selection

So, with all that said, the two deciding factors that made me stray from the lowest score ebike was my desire to have multiple gears available for riding without assistance and the need to remove the battery for charging. The first criteria ruled out the highest-ranking Ride1Up Roadster and Vvolt Alpha, and the second criteria ruled out the Ride1Up Roadster and the TenWays CGO 600. All three of these bikes are beautiful, and I’d love the chance to ride any of them.

So, that makes my selection the Aventon Soltera 7-Speed ebike. This bike checks the boxes that were important to me, and with a few discounts and credit card points, the price was in my budget. Some bonus points for the Soltera were a color LCD for battery state and speed, integrated head and tail lights, the option to buy an additional battery down the road, and a company that seems to be growing and getting positive reviews.

So now all I have to do is ride it.

Let me know what you think of the scoring factors and reasoning.

Happy trails.

Aventon Soltera eBike — My chosen ebike, the Aventon Soltera 7-Speed