E-bike charging cost and savings calculator

Fully charging a 250Wh to 500Wh e-bike battery costs roughly 8p to 16p at our October – December 2026 example rate of 26.32p/kWh. That allows for 15% charging losses: at 85% efficiency, replenishing a 500Wh battery draws about 588Wh from the mains.

Costs assume full charge from empty at 85% charging efficiency. Topping up a part-empty battery will cost proportionally less.

Your battery's capacity is usually printed on its label in watt-hours (Wh). If it only shows volts (V) and amp-hours (Ah), multiply them: a 36V, 13.9Ah battery holds about 500Wh.

Your own cost depends on your tariff. A fixed or off-peak tariff may be cheaper than the price cap average, so if you know your unit rate, enter it under More options in the calculator for a closer figure.

On our example assumptions, car fuel costs 17.44p a mile and e-bike charging costs 0.46p a mile. Replacing a five-mile commute each way, five days a week for 46 weeks (2,300 miles a year), saves about £390 a year in energy.

This calculator compares energy only. Hills, rider weight, assist level and cold weather can all raise an e-bike's consumption, and short car trips often use more fuel than a car's official economy figure suggests.

At about £390 a year in energy savings, a £1,500 bike and initial kit would take roughly 46 months to recover its purchase price through energy savings alone.

These are illustrative figures for the example commute. Payback is longer if you ride fewer days, and shorter if your car uses more fuel or you replace longer journeys. They cover the purchase price only: maintenance, replacement batteries and other running costs are not included.

The calculator works out your annual mileage, then the cost of fuelling a car and charging an e-bike over the same distance. One UK gallon is 4.54609 litres.

In these formulas, charging efficiency is a decimal (85% = 0.85) and prices are in pounds (26.32p/kWh = £0.2632; 172.6p per litre = £1.726), although the calculator's form accepts pence.

Every default below can be changed in the calculator. Illustrative defaults are example values, not measured or independently established figures.

Ofgem's price cap is reviewed every three months, and actual unit rates vary by region and tariff. For October to December 2026, Ofgem says VAT is not charged on electricity for customers covered by the cap.

The UK gallon conversion is listed in the UK units-of-measurement schedule.

The calculator compares the energy cost of the same journeys by car and by e-bike, plus the time the bike's purchase price takes to recover from those savings. It is a modelled example, not a measured cost, survey result or riding trial.

It does not include:

No. This tool compares energy costs and estimates purchase payback; it doesn't calculate salary sacrifice or tax savings.

Cycle to Work calculators estimate how much you could save on the price of a bike by paying through your employer's scheme. If you're buying that way, use your scheme provider's calculator for the purchase saving, then enter the price you'll actually pay as the bike cost here to see your energy-only payback.