Electric cargo bikes can be a money-saving alternative for millions of households, particularly if you run two cars today, amounting to thousands of pounds every year.
Giving up car use altogether can be a radical step and might not feel realistic for many people, particularly if you’re a family with young children. But 35% of households in England own two or more cars (or vans) [1] and this is where a cargo e-bike could make the difference; by getting rid of one of those cars and replacing it with a cargo e-bike you could save thousands of pounds.
The average cost of running a car is calculated to be over £160 a month [2]. Even if you don’t drive it far, or even very often, you’ve still got the fixed costs of insurance, an annual MOT and servicing, plus the fuel costs for when you are driving it, occasional new parts, parking costs, and perhaps even the occasional fine or road tolls. In the end, it all adds up.
|
Item |
Average monthly spend |
|
Fuel |
£67.63 |
|
Car insurance |
£31.64 |
|
Routine maintenance and servicing |
£15.96 |
|
Unexpected repairs and breakdowns |
£13.26 |
|
Vehicle excise duty (road tax) |
£12.16 |
|
Breakdown cover |
£6.96 |
|
Parking permits and tickets |
£6.89 |
|
Cleaning |
£4.15 |
|
Fines |
£3.69 |
|
Monthly average total |
£162.33 |
Per year: £1,947.96
[2]
What’s more, cars spend on average 96% of the time parked up and doing nothing, either at home (80%) or elsewhere (16%) [3]. However, there’s usually a significant amount of capital tied up in a car – perhaps a few thousand pounds or more – or if it was being bought on finance, then it’s likely costing a fixed amount per month in financing charges [2].
Either way, owning a car is a significant financial commitment. It’s also worth noting that nearly three in five car journeys are less than five miles [4], a distance for which an e-bike is ideally suited. For a lot of the time, we’re using our cars for relatively short, local journeys – which incidentally are the most polluting kind too.
Getting rid of that car could make a huge difference to household finances, particularly right now with families feeling the financial pressure exerted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A typical cargo bike costs between £2,500 and £5,000, meaning that many families could sell their second car and use the capital to buy a bike at no additional cost. You would then be able to save around £2,000 a year in running costs.
The UK Government has been talking a lot about a ‘green transport revolution’, introducing more road restrictions such as Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, electric vehicles and supporting active travel. Ultimately, from 2030 the sales of new fossil fuel-powered cars will be banned. It’s clear that the direction of travel is to discourage car use, particularly internal combustion engines and to promote active and shared travel instead.
It’s good to know that it could actually help to save you money too!
Sources
[1] National Travel Survey table NTS 0205
[2] https://www.thecarexpert.co.uk/average-car-costs-more-than-160-per-month-to-run/
[3] https://www.racfoundation.org/motoring-faqs/mobility#a5
[4] National Travel Survey table NTS 0308a