Why pit an electric bike against a 125?
There are no absolute truths. A substance turns from medicine to poison depending on the dose. The same goes for our comparison today. You may prefer the quiet and smooth ride of an electric scooter or the sound of the exhaust of a sporty 125cc scooter. Each has its advantages and disadvantages and will find supporters and detractors with a multitude of arguments. What they will always agree on is wanting to spend as little as possible.
With the advent of electric vehicles, the market has shown that, among electric vehicles, the best ratio between weight and autonomy is optimal for small and light vehicles with short and medium range. The greater the autonomy, the more weight is required: the reason is that it requires additional batteries, since maintaining a constant speed is the worst scenario for electrical consumption. This does not happen in the city; on the contrary, city journeys consist of constant starts and stops. This is where the advantages of the electric motor and the weaknesses of the thermal engine in terms of consumption and wear of its components come to light.
New realities
The phenomenon of motorcycle sharing has emerged around the electric scooter. It is a response to reality and to society’s sensitivity regarding the use of available resources. But they also use electric vehicles because they are more profitable. Of course, economies of scale apply; in addition, companies have infrastructure that individuals cannot access. Until now.
The network of battery exchange points (Battery Stations) is growing enormously to serve users who are choosing to buy their Silence S01 motorcycle with a subscription battery service. To give you an idea, we are talking about more than 120 Battery Stations spread across Spain, meaning that currently in Madrid and Barcelona there are more Battery Stations than petrol stations.
These battery exchange points eliminate the great challenge of autonomy in electric cars in less than a minute. For Silence, it simply ceases to exist, since there is no need to wait for recharging and there is no “dead end” syndrome.I’m out of battery». In the Battery Station APP, reserve a battery at the closest point to where you are and exchange it.
With this move by Silence, the rules are different, so private customers in large cities now have reasons to read this comparison and see that what we understood until now as mobility has changed.
The playing field
Considering a 100% urban use, the 40-kilometre route runs entirely through the city of Madrid. If you use the scooter to go to work and run errands, it is a daily distance greater than that of the average user (if you are not a delivery person, of course). As I cannot drive two scooters at the same time, the routes were made at different times, that is, they are not the same traffic conditions strictly speaking, but the distance is sufficient to draw reliable conclusions.
The route starts and ends at the same point, a service station on Calle María de Molina, heading south, in search of the Puerta de Alcalá, Atocha Station, Puerta de Toledo, Royal Palace, Plaza de España, Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Civitas Metropolitano Stadium, Las Ventas Bullring and back to the service station, crossing old Madrid and crossing ring roads. A bit of everything.
The results
In order to reach any conclusions, we needed a unit of measurement. The price per kilometre seems to be the most appropriate, because it can be extrapolated to different routes. But it must also be clear that, to arrive at the price per kilometre, a value must be assigned to some variables, such as the price of petrol and the price of electricity, whether it is the rate of the Acciona Battery Station or the rate you have contracted at home. As you can see, in some cases we can give you figures for a specific time, but in all cases you will be able to get an idea of where things are going.
It is curious that, after the route, the figure recorded on the odometers of both bikes differs by almost 2 kilometers of distance, almost 5%; as a margin of error, it is quite a lot. Neither of the two figures coincided with the almost 40 kilometers that Google Maps indicates it is. In the end, we cannot know which of the three is correct, if any of them is, because we also do not know from which point to which point Google measures the distance between destinations. We will assume the figure of 40 kilometers is correct.
We have calculated the annual cost of both motorcycles for users who travel 500 kilometres per month and for users who travel 1000 kilometres per month. In both cases there is a fixed cost of €150 for the 125 (inspection, oil, filters and labour), which may vary depending on the brand, model or workshop. In the case of the electric motorcycle, the annual inspection is priced at €60 per year in Silence. From here, the differences begin, because the increase in cost is linear in the case of the 125 cc, but not so in the Silence, since with the Silence Subscription Battery system, the energy for the first 4 recharges (more than 500 km), is free for the first three years.
The 125 cc
In this case we had a Suzuki Burgman 125. Calculating the cost per kilometre is simple: I fill up the bike and after the route, I fill it up again. The amount that goes into the tank will be what it has consumed during 40 kilometres. As only 1.33 litres went into the tank and 95 petrol was €1.779 per litre on the day of the test, the 40 km cost €2.37. Divided by the 40 km of travel, it gives a cost of €0.059/km.
The annual cost of a 125, including service and fuel (taxes and insurance are not included, as they vary depending on the location and driver) amounts to €505.50/year if 500 km are driven per month. The cost increases to €861/year for 1,000 km/month.
Add the purchase cost of a 125cc city scooter, which we can estimate at €3,000 on average. Including the purchase cost and travelling 500 km per month, we can estimate the cost at 1, 3 and 5 years at €3,505.50, €4,516.50 and €5,527.50 respectively. If we increase the mileage travelled to 1,000 km per month, the cost becomes €3,861 at 1 year, €5,583 at 3 years and €7,305 at 5 years.
The electric one
The Silence S01 and the Burgman completed the journey with little difference in terms of time taken. After 40 kilometres in City mode, the Silence still had 51% of its battery capacity, but it is not so easy to calculate the cost per kilometre, because there are quite a few cases, depending on how much distance is estimated to be covered. If you travel 500 kilometres per month, the cost per kilometre is €0 for the first three years (the first four charges per month are free at Acciona Battery Stations). After that, there are monthly plans between €20 for three full-cycle charges and €30 for six full charges. If you need more charges after the first 500 kilometres, you can go to Acciona Battery Stations, where a full-cycle charge costs €5. Changing the battery only takes 30 seconds.
You can also choose to charge the bike (or the removable battery) at home, in which case it will depend on the rate contracted, but it will never exceed (at current prices) €1 per charge, probably less. It then depends on the charging mix we use if we exceed 500 km per month. We will look for an average figure between the most expensive case (going to the Battery Stations, faster but more expensive) or charging at home (slower, also cheaper).
Regarding the purchase price, the Silence S01 without a battery (and with the Subscription Battery plan) costs €3,200. The Moves III Plan (until July 31) includes aid of up to €1,300 (if another vehicle is scrapped). Let’s say that the acquisition cost of the Silence S01 is €2,000. That’s already €1,000 less than a 125 cc.
The annual cost of a Silence S01 that travels 500 km per month is €60, corresponding to the annual inspection, because it pays €0 for energy. This represents a saving of €445.50 compared to the 125 cc. If you travel 1,000 km per month, the annual cost is €427.50, a saving of €433.50 per year compared to the 125 cc. If we take the difference into account the acquisition cost, the advantage increases by €1,000. The differences increase to €2,336 and €3,227 at 3 and 5 years respectively if we travel 500 km per month, acquisition cost included. If we talk about 1,000 km per month, the differences at 3 and 5 years are €2,300.50 and €3,167.50 respectively.