Outside of safety and a lack of bike infrastructure, the main objection I see with getting an ebike has to do with price. To be sure, ebikes are more expensive than regular bikes. A decent basic ebike will cost you somewhere in the $1,000 range, with higher-end ebikes costing $2,000 or more. Cargo bikes, which are even more of a game-changer when it comes to a car replacement bike, will run you several thousands of dollars (think $5,000 or more for a cargo bike from a good brand – I have two cargo bikes, one which cost me $4,000 and another that cost me an astounding $9,000).
On its own, an investment in an ebike is well worth it, paying for itself simply by using it. I’ve written about how an ebike can be the best investment you ever make and gave a talk at EconoMe about the massive financial benefits of ebikes.
The value an ebike gives you though can, admittedly, feel abstract. Replacing the miles you drive reduces the wear and tear on your vehicle, which saves you money. But it’s hard to visualize the savings since things like vehicle depreciation and maintenance aren’t easily seen. The health benefits you get from active transportation also saves you money by reducing your future potential healthcare costs, but again, those are intangible benefits that you can’t see.
That isn’t to say all all the savings you receive from an ebike are abstract. Paying for less gas, for example, is a tangible benefit. And you can get a lot of tangible value if you can forego a car altogether (if, for example, rather than spending the money on a second car, you spend far less money by buying an ebike to get you around). But still, it can feel hard dropping thousands of dollars on something that, for many people, feels like a toy.
But if the abstract savings you get from an ebike isn’t enough, there is another option to help justify an ebike purchase. An ebike can be used as a tool to actively make you money, tangibly paying for itself with real, hard cash. Here’s how.
How Your Ebike Can Pay For Itself
The easiest way your ebike can pay for itself is if it’s used as a mode of transportation to work with gig economy apps, in particular, food delivery apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. Other gig economy apps can work too (examples of other apps I work with using my bike are Roadie, WeGoLook, Shipt, Instacart, and TaskRabbit).
Figuring out how your ebike can actively pay for itself only requires basic math. You just need to consider three things:
- How much will your ebike cost?
- How fast do you want to pay for the ebike?
- How much do you need to earn per day, week, or month to hit that goal?
I like to go with a typical price of $1,500 for a decent ebike (but you can use any price you’re comfortable with). From there, I look at how much I can realistically make per day using my bike to work for different gig economy apps. So, if I got a $1,500 and wanted to pay it off in three months, it would look like this:
- Ebike Cost: $1,500
- Desired Payment Timeframe: 3 months
- Monthly Amount Needed To Pay For The Bike: $500
For most people, making $100 per week is not going to be difficult. If you work 5 days per week, you’ll need to earn $20 per day from these various apps. Most people who live in a city should be able to do this in about an hour per day (so long as you’re strategic about where and when you work and take advantage of multi-apping to maximize your earnings).
Doing that math, $100 per week means it’ll take you 15 weeks to earn your money back. After that, your bike had paid for itself and you’re now riding for free. Obviously, the more time you have, the more you’ll be able to make and the faster you’ll be able to pay for your bike with your gig economy earnings.
Back in my peak side hustling days, I would often aim to make $1,000 per month from DoorDash and Uber Eats. This came out to about $33 per day, which I didn’t find difficult to do. I’d typically hit the goal in about an hour per day so long as I worked during the lunch or dinner rush.
My side hustling has slowed down dramatically since I’ve had kids, but even now, earning $100 per week wouldn’t be a problem, even with the limited free time I have. If you’re smart with how you use these apps, you can earn $100 in 5 hours per week. I can almost guarantee that everyone reading this probably has an hour of free time to bike around and enjoy themselves if they want to.
Importantly, you can adjust the numbers to fit any situation you want. If you want to be extra conservative, earning something like $50 per week (or about $10 per day over 5 days), is within reach for anybody. That’s probably about 30 minutes per day of work, which I guarantee everyone probably has time to do in their schedule. It’ll take you longer to pay for your bike if you take it easy like this, but eventually, your ebike will pay for itself.
The point is to figure out the math that works for you. You might be able to pay the bike off in a month if you really hustle. Or maybe you take it easy and it takes you a year to pay for your bike. Either way, that’s an extremely valuable item you bought that paid for itself. When you think about it, there are very few things out there that can actively pay for themselves like that.
Your Time Is Money – So Treat This As Entertainment
One important thing to remember is that you don’t want this to be a chore. So if you want to use food delivery or other gig economy apps to pay for your ebike, it shouldn’t feel like you’re doing grueling work.
For me, side hustling hasn’t always been about the money. Indeed, I started side hustling and using these gig economy apps, not really to earn extra money, but because I found it therapeutic – a way for me to do something completely different from my normal day job.
Biking is something I’ve always enjoyed doing, so the fact I can use my bike to deliver food is a huge win for me. It lets me get outside on my bike, explore the city, and get a little exercise too (yes, even an ebike comes with health benefits). I also enjoy the game-like aspect of being assigned to deliver food to someone. Not everyone is going to find this type of work fun, but for me, it’s exactly that. If it wasn’t fun for me, I wouldn’t do it.
Your time is valuable, so if the 30 minutes or hour you spend biking around earning money with your bike isn’t fun to you, definitely don’t do that. But if you’re like me and find delivering food on your bike fun, it’s basically a form of entertainment. And getting paid to do something that you find fun while paying for your ebike is a win-win.
Your Ebike Will Pay For Itself If You Use It
Your ebike can be used as a tool to pay for itself and the money you earn from your ebike can be used to recoup the cost of the bike. Eventually, you’ll earn enough that the bike is completely paid for with the earnings you made using it.
It needs to be said, though, that even if you don’t use your ebike as a way to actively make money, it’ll still make you money simply by using it as a form of transportation. If you can replace owning a car, you’re automatically paying for your bike with the savings you get from not having to pay for car payments, fuel, licensing and registration, insurance, maintenance, and parking. Even at your lowest cost, you’ll pay several hundred dollars per month just to have your car sitting unused. If you have an expensive car and large car payments, you could be spending over a thousand dollars per month. While most people won’t be able to completely replace their car with an ebike, I think there are a lot of households out there with 2 or more cars that could easily replace one vehicle with an ebike (and save themselves thousands of dollars per year in the process).
Even if you can’t replace a car, your ebike will still pay for itself with regular use in the form of lower fuel costs and reduced maintenance on your car. According to the US Department of Energy, it costs an average of 58 cents per mile to drive a car. So, every 1,000 miles you replace with an ebike directly saves you about $500.
I have several ebikes with over 6,000 miles ridden on them, which means those ebikes have directly saved me thousands of dollars over the years I’ve had them simply by not putting those miles on my car.
Final Thoughts
A lot of money stuff can feel abstract and while I talk about the benefits of ebikes constantly, it’s sometimes hard to get excited about it because you can’t see the savings. Transportation costs are like that because, unlike housing and food, transportation costs are often hidden. You don’t usually notice any vehicle costs except when you pay repairs (which is an irregular expense) or fill up your gas tank.
The value of an ebike doesn’t have to be abstract. It can actively earn you money, paying for itself in a matter of weeks or months. I’ve made over a hundred thousand dollars over the years from my various side hustles. Most of that is a direct result of my bike.
I still think you don’t need to do anything other than ride an ebike for it to pay for itself. But for those of you who prefer a tangible benefit, the solution is to get an ebike and use it to earn extra income. It’ll directly pay for itself with time. You’ve now got an ebike that paid for itself and that you can ride essentially for free.
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More Recommended Ebike/Scooters
Check out these other ebikes and scooters I've reviewed:
- Urban Arrow Ebike – Last year, I made one of the largest purchases I’ve ever made – I bought a $9,000 electric cargo bike from Urban Arrow. In my Urban Arrow review, I will discuss what it is and why I decided to buy this bike, as well as discuss how impactful a bike like this can be on your journey to financial independence.
- Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Ebike – The Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is a fat-tire ebike that I’ve had the pleasure of riding for a while now. It has amazing power, great looks, and awesome range. If you’re looking for a great fat-tire ebike that offers a lot for the price, the Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is definitely one for you to consider. Check out my Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Review.
- Hovsco HovBeta Ebike – The HovBeta is a folding ebike with great specs and a lot of interesting features, and importantly, it’s sold at a good price point. I’ve had a blast commuting with it and using it to do deliveries with DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. Check out my Hovsco HovBeta Ebike Review.
- Vanpowers Manidae Ebike – The Vanpowers Manidae is a fat tire ebike that I’ve been riding as my primary winter commuting bike and have also been using it to do food delivery with apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. After clocking in a decent number of miles with this ebike, I wanted to write a post sharing what my experience with the Vanpowers Manidae ebike has been like. Check out my Vanpowers Manidae Review.
- Sohamo S3 Step-Thru Folding EBike Review – A Great Value Folding Ebike – The Sohamo S3 Step-Thru Folding Ebike is an entry-level folding ebike that offers a lot of value for the price point. I’ve been riding the Sohamo S3 for a while now, putting the bike through its paces, and I have to say, this bike has exceeded all of my expectations. Check out my Sohamo Review.
- KBO Flip Ebike – The KBO Flip is an excellent bike. I’ve had a great time riding it and think it’s a versatile bike that can be used for a lot of purposes and can fit a variety of lifestyles. It’s worked out great for me as a general commuter bike and as a food delivery bike. Check out my KBO Flip Review.
- Hiboy P7 Commuter Ebike – The Hiboy P7 is an excellent electric commuter bike that’s offered at an affordable price point. The range and speed of this bike are both very good, so you won’t have any trouble getting anywhere you need to go with it. As a food delivery vehicle, this is also good – with how much range it offers, you’ll be able to work all day on a single charge. Check out my Hiboy P7 Commuter Electric Bike Review.
- Himiway Escape Ebike – The Himiway Escape is an interesting bike for anyone looking for a moped-style ebike. If you’re a gig economy worker, the Himiway Escape is particularly interesting and it’s possible to think of it as an investment, especially if you can opt to do deliveries with the Himiway versus using a car. It’s not cheap, but you can definitely make your money back when you compare the mileage you’ll put on your car versus using an ebike. Check out my Himiway Escape Bike Review.
- Espin Sport Ebike – The Espin Sport is a good ebike for someone who is looking for an ebike that feels and rides more like a regular bike. There are many ebikes that are really only bikes in name. In reality, they’re basically electric mopeds. The Espin Sport, by contrast, is a bike you could probably ride without the battery and you’d feel like you’re just riding a regular bike. Check out my Espin Sport Review.
- Varla Eagle One Scooter – The Varla Eagle One is an excellent scooter that can make sense for a lot of people. It can work as a primary mode of transportation. You can use it to work on gig economy apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. And it can also be a recreational vehicle if you’d prefer to use it for that. Check out my Varla Eagle One Review.
- Varla Falcon Scooter – The Varla Falcon is an excellent scooter that offers a good amount of power at a lower price point compared to more powerful scooters. It’s not exactly an entry-level scooter, nor is it a high-powered scooter. I think it fits somewhere in-between those two categories – an intermediate scooter if I had to give it a category. Check out my Varla Falcon Review.
- Hiboy S2 Scooter – The Hiboy S2 is an excellent entry-level commuter scooter that's perfect for someone looking to save some money in transportation costs and improve their commute. Check out my Hiboy S2 Review.
- Hiboy S2R Scooter – The Hiboy S2R is one of the more interesting electric scooters I’ve been able to test out. It’s not a high-powered scooter, but for an everyday transport option, it’s very useful, especially given some of the unique features that it has. Indeed, for the price, the Hiboy S2R might be the best value scooter I’ve used. Check out my Hiboy S2R Review.
- Fucare H3 Scooter – The Fucare H3 is a fun scooter and I’ve enjoyed testing it out. For a daily commuter or quick trips or errands, the Fucare H3 is probably the scooter I’ll use. It’s portable and easy to maneuver, so it’s just easier to take on the road when I need it. Check out my Fucare H3 Scooter Review.
More Recommended Investing App Bonuses
For additional investing app bonuses, be sure to check out the ones below:
- M1 Finance ($100) – This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account. Check out my M1 Finance Referral Bonus – Step-By-Step Guide.
- SoFi Invest ($25) – SoFi Invest is an easy brokerage account bonus that you can earn with just a few minutes of work. Use my SoFi Invest referral link, fund your SoFi Invest brokerage account with just $10 and you’ll get $25 of free stock. I also have a step-by-step guide for the SoFi Invest referral bonus.
- Webull (20 free stock shares) – Webull's current promotion gives you 20 free shares valued between $3-$3,000 each if you open an account using my referral link. Here’s a guide I wrote about how to earn your free shares using Webull.
- Moomoo (15 free stocks) – Moomoo is a free investing app currently offering 2 different referral bonuses if you open an account using a referral link. Read my Moomoo referral bonus guide for more information.
- Robinhood (1 free stock) – Robinhood gives you a free stock valued between $2.50-$225 if you open an account using my referral link.
- Public (1 free stock) - Public gives you a free stock valued between $3-$70 if you open an account using my referral link.
More Recommended Bank Account Bonuses
If you’re looking for more easy bank bonuses, check out the below options. These bonuses are all easy to earn and have no fees or minimum balance requirements to worry about.
- SoFi Money ($325) – SoFi Money is a free checking account from SoFi. They’re currently offering a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi account with a referral link and deposit $10. You can also make an additional $300 as well if you complete a direct deposit. This is a good bank that is also 100% free, so you won’t have to worry about managing this account. Here’s a post I wrote with instructions on how to earn your SoFi Money bonus: SoFi Money Referral Bonus: Step By Step Guide.
- Upgrade ($300) – Upgrade is a free checking account that’s currently offering a $300 referral bonus if you open an account and complete a direct deposit. These bonus terms are easy to meet, so it’s well worth doing this bonus as soon as you can. Here’s a post I wrote with more details: Upgrade $300 Referral Bonus – Step By Step Directions.
- Fairwinds Credit Union ($175) – Fairwinds Credit Union is offering a referral bonus for users that sign up using a referral link. Fairwinds has no fees or minimum balance, so this is a particularly easy bonus to earn. Since this is a smaller credit union, my gut instinct tells me this offer won’t be around long, so if you’re in a position to meet the bonus requirements, grab this bonus before it’s gone. Here is my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Fairwinds Credit Union bonus.
- Chime ($100) - Chime is a free bank account that offers a referral bonus if you use a referral link and complete a direct deposit of $200 or more. In practice, any ACH transfer into this account triggers the bonus. This bonus is easy to earn and posts instantly, so you’ll know if you met the requirements as soon as you move money into the account. I wrote a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Chime referral bonus that I recommend you check out.
- US Bank Business ($800) – This is a fairly easy bank bonus to earn, since there are no direct deposit requirements. In addition, you can open the Silver Business Checking account, which comes with no monthly fees. Check out how to earn this big bonus here.
- Fifth Third Bank ($200) – This offer is limited to customers in the following states: Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia, and South Carolina. If you don’t live in one of those states, you won’t be able to open an account online but you can still open an account in-branch if you happen to be visiting a city that has a branch. This is a fairly easy bank bonus to earn, especially since there are plenty of data points showing what will trigger the direct deposit requirement. In addition, you can open the Fifth Third Momentum Checking bank account, which comes with no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements. Read my guide on this bonus here.
- GO2Bank ($50) - GO2Bank is an easy bank bonus that I recommend people take advantage of if they have an easy way of meeting the direct deposit requirement. I like that it’s easy to open the account and that the bonus pays out quickly. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your GO2Bank $50 referral bonus.
- Current ($50) – Current is a free fintech bank that’s offering new users a $50 referral bonus after signing up for an account using a referral link. Current is an easy bonus to earn and also gives you access to three savings accounts that pay you 4% interest on up to $2,000. That means you can put away up to $6,000 earning 4% interest. That’s very good and makes Current an account I recommend to everyone. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Current Bank bonus.
- Novo Bank ($40) - Novo bank is a free business checking account that’s currently offering a $40 bonus if you open a Novo business checking account using a referral link. In addition to being a good bank bonus, Novo is also a good business checking account. It has no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements and operates a good app and website. Indeed, it’s the business checking account I currently use for this blog. Check out my post on how to easily open a Novo account.
- Varo ($25) – Varo is a free fintech banking app similar to Chime or Current. It’s currently offering a $25 bonus to new users that open a new Varo account with a referral link. The bonus for this bank is very easy to meet, all you need to do is spend $20 within 30 days of opening your Varo account. Check out my step-by-step guide to learn how to earn this bonus.
Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.
Kevin is passionate about earning money using the gig economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.
Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:
- SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link, and an additional $300 if you complete a direct deposit.
- 5% Savings Accounts. I'm currently getting 5.24% interest on my savings through a company called Raisin. Opening a Raisin account takes minutes to complete, it's free, and all of your funds are FDIC-insured. I explain how it works, why I'm now using it to store my emergency fund and any other cash savings I have, and why I recommend everyone check it out in this review.
- US Bank Business. US Bank is currently offering new business customers a $800 signup bonus after opening a new account and meeting certain requirements.
- M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account.
- Empower. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps I use to track my financial accounts.
Feel free to send Kevin a message here.
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