BH electric bike: 2,000 euros vs 500 for a DIY kit

Brand-name e-bike or DIY kit: the math that decides

What does riding an electric bike really cost? The new BH Emotion NEO, with the battery integrated into the frame and a cleaner look, arrives with no confirmed price and an estimated range of 2,000 to 2,500 euros. Against it stands the alternative that keeps gaining ground: a cheap bike costing 200 to 400 euros plus a motor kit for about 200, or complete approved kits starting at 299 euros. The difference isn't aesthetic. It's arithmetic.

What each kilometre on an e-bike costs

The calculation that comes up most often starts from a full charge: around 1.25 kWh for a 70-75 kg rider, at a cost of roughly 17 cents per 100 kilometres once you apply the price per kilowatt-hour plus an extra 25% for losses. A parallel calculation puts it at about 30 cents per 100 km. Either figure makes the car look ridiculous: at 6 euros per 100 kilometres, the e-bike runs on pennies.

That's where the strongest argument appears. For a 50-kilometre daily commute, a car burns about 66 euros a month in fuel; the e-bike, less than 2 euros. The 299-euro kit would pay for itself in around 4 and a half months. With a 125 cc motorbike using 7 litres a week, the payback stretches to about 33 weeks, under nine months. The conclusion is uncomfortable for the story that this is a rich person's toy.

The battery: the number nobody looks at and everyone argues about

The spec sheet says 324 Wh, and that's where the confusion starts. One comment points out that this isn't amps: at 12 volts, the real capacity is around 27 Ah, a figure another participant finds exceptional because the largest he knows of is 18 Ah, and that one not yet on sale to the public. The mix-up between watt-hours and ampere-hours runs through much of the conversation and reveals how little the industry explains to buyers.

Wear and tear is the other variable. Some argue that a 250 W motor, capped by law at 25 km/h, is so underused it will outlast the bike itself, and that a quality battery will last more than five years. The pessimistic scenario is the usual one: the battery or motor dies and the savings vanish. Nobody has the statistics.

The legal limit: pedal or be a moped

European law is clear: an e-bike can't provide an inch of assistance if you're not pedalling. If it has a throttle and moves on its own, it's classed as an electric moped or motorbike, with registration, insurance and an MOT. Approved kits include a pedal sensor, and police can check for a throttle if they suspect the vehicle is going "like a motorbike". The grey area is the usual one: how many metres without pedalling are momentum and how many are a crime.

The aesthetics of saving: Decathlon, Aldi and the 299-euro kit

Against the 2,000 euros of the Basque brand, entry-level options appear: an e-bike at Decathlon for 650 euros, with a battery lasting about 25 km if you ride it hard and no front suspension, and complete kits from 299 euros with gel battery, charger and wheel, with a lithium option at 499. The aesthetic criticism is unanimous: the cheap ones are ugly. The answer from those who run the numbers is that ugly gets paid for with petrol.

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The brand boasts of integration and a dynamic design. The buyer boasts of having paid for the bike with what he saved on fuel. Both are right, but only one has done the maths.