Do you remember this saying – “A penny saved is a penny earned.” We spoke to a lot of people from different walks of life to find out why we often get this question: “First tell me how to save money! I don’t have enough to invest.” We checked their budgets and one common pain was commuting – the time, energy and money spent on it. It seemed like a hopeless expense, until we found out about a humble electric cycle. A lean way to beat commuting woes.

Once we had a clue, we decided to dive deeper. After all, we at The 1% club love anything that means sound financial planning. Here is what we found – The best, the good and the not-so-good about electric cycles in India.

What the heck is an electric cycle?

Many will have this question. For the uninitiated, cycle, bike, bicycle are interchangeably used in India. Simply put, it is our good old bicycle on steroids – err, batteries. These bikes have a battery mounted on their frame. Some electric cycles have batteries permanently attached, some have those removable. 

Having batteries means the electric cycle can move faster, with lesser or even no pedalling. These cycles are known to travel at 25-30km/hr speed easily. All you have to do is – mount the bicycle and turn on the throttle. Zoom! The powerful electric motor will set you in motion for good. 

How to ride an electric cycle? 

If you want to exercise a bit, switch to the pedal assist mode. Here, you will pedal all along, but you will get more speed than what you would expect for your pedalling efforts. 

Else, if you are not in a mood to zoom, just go mechanical and ride the electric bike as you would ride the normal one. Most electric cycles come with the above three choices or modes. 

On a single charge, an e-cycle can go anywhere between 25-100 km depending on the mode you select and the battery strength.

What about the batteries?

How to power the batteries, you may ask? Simple – Charge it! For charging a removable battery, you will have to just plug it and charge. Effortlessly easy – just the way you charge your mobile phone.

For those e-cycles with fixed batteries, you may have to take some more trouble to charge them using the right port and right cords at the right places. 

FWIW: The batteries can be lithium ion or lead acid.

Also Read: Electric Vehicle policies in India: Can the retail sector adopt?

The Best things about Electric Cycles

Now, let us list some best things about the electric bikes:

1. They are super cheap. According to Kunal Gupta, Co-Founder and CEO of Emotorad, an e-cycle company, travelling using an e-cycle will cost you 7 paise per km. That is unbelievably cheap. Imagine you travelling 1 lakh km at Rs 7000 only (This is probably your monthly travel budget). Read more about how much you can save here.
2. You can use it at a minimal/zero maintenance cost. Since the product is so simple, there is hardly any servicing cost attached.

So, basically, low operating cost and low maintenance cost.

3. Electric cycles do the best job as your health companion. They take you as far as you want to go and bring you back smoothly on throttle mode should you not want to pedal back home. They give you absolute freedom to exercise the way you want. No more, no less!
4. Imagine using an electric vehicle which simply runs out of power mid-way. Boss, you have no option to make it run again unless you charge it again. Not the case with e-bikes. You can simply pedal them to your destination or nearest place where you will be able to charge its battery. 

The Good things about Electric Cycles 

Now that we have seen the best part, let us move on to the good things on offer:

1. You can literally order them online like the same way you order a biryani. Also, some companies do offer a test drive as well.
2. If you are in Delhi or Chandigarh, congratulations! The government there is also incentivising e-bike usage. So, get going if you stay in any of these two places.
3. You do not need any registration or insurance. Well, insurance for the electric bikes is very much available and costs around Rs 2500-3000. It is good to have, but not mandatory as in case of other vehicles like scooters, cars etc.
4. If your office allows Hybrid work, you are more likely to stay at home for some days – when you can use the e-bike to travel nearby places. Also, since you are not showing up at the office everyday, you do not really need to take out monthly passes. You can simply choose to e-cycle for distances in the range of 20-25 km (roundtrip – which is what most Indians travel everyday). 

The not-so-good things about Electric Cycles

There are some things which may cause some inconvenience. Here are those:

1. You won’t get much storage space since it is a bicycle. You can modify and make some space, but it’s still – let’s just say: limited.
2. If you want to take a pillion rider with you, an electric cycle is not made for this.
3. Rainy season may make cycling difficult like any other two-wheeler.
4. If 25-35km/hr is not your game, then this is probably not your ideal choice. However, we would definitely urge you to consider the average speed in the Indian city roads at peak times before you make any decision.
5. As the electric cycle market in India is still in its nascent stage, you might face problems in getting the internal battery issues repaired. So before buying, ensure that there are some e-bike repair shops or service centres in your locality. 

Well, that’s about it. 

One more point: If you are worried about riding on the pothole ridden Indian roads, you can look for a bike with a good suspension. 

How much does it cost? 

Here are some popular electric cycles and their prices:

Hero Lectro H4: Rs 32,499

Hero Lectro C4+: Rs. 34,499

Emotorad X1: Rs 24,999

Emotorad Doodle V3: Rs. 52,999

Firefox Adventron: Rs 63,000

Nexzu Roadlark: Rs 32,950

Motovolt Hum: Rs 32,849

Touche Heileo M100: Rs 46,990

Essel Energy GET7: Rs 45,450 

The Electric Cycle Market in India: An Overview

Here is a vehicle, which can give you a joy of riding but at the same time boost your normal speed of 10-12 km/hr to 25 km/hr. Right now, Bajaj is the largest player in the market. Other prominent players include Emotorad, Motovolt, Nexzu, Essel energy, Touche, Firefox etc.

Kunal says that globally it is a $40 billion market already. 

Currently, more than 50 models are available in the Indian market. Thousands of electric bikes are getting sold monthly as per the industry data. Also, most likely, even better models will get introduced in the near future catering to different needs.

Also Read: Bajaj Freedom 125: Price, Variants, Features, Benefits of World’s First CNG Bike Launched in India

Last words

In conclusion, we can say that – if you are a shop owner, college student or working professional – you probably have a use case to consider an electric cycle. Make it a point to go through the various models, try some if you can, look for availability of service centres in your locality and then decide whether you love it or not. Until then, goodbye! 

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Disclaimer: The above content is for informational purposes only. Please consult a SEBI-registered investment advisor before making any investment decision.